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1tOO\M«yn«Aii«mM,  Sum  1100 
StiMf  Sprtng.  Ma^tand  20910 

301/6«7-8iK>2 


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Centimeter  '"     ' 

1        2        3       4        5       6        7       8        9       10      11       1.2      13      14      15  mm 


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HflNUFflCTURED  TO  flllM  STQNDQRDS 
BY  QPPUIED  IMAGE.    INC. 


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^ 


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CIHM 
Microfiche 

Series 
(Monograplis) 


ICMH 
Collection 

microfiches 
(monographies) 


^ 


Canadian  InttllMta  fof 


Hiatorical  Mlcrowdducllpna  /  Inailtut  ta«adl«.  da  mlcronpr,Hl«ctlo«a  hlatortquaa 


T«tl»iical  and  BiMorapkic 


TiM  ImtituM  hM  anMitptid  to  obttki  th*  bmt 
copy  availabto  for  filmint.  FMtHrM  of  this 
may  ba  MMioraphteaNv  yniqua,  wfhMi  may 
of  tha  imafa*  in  «lw  raprodMetion;  or  whMi 
tiflnilieanily  dianfi  tha  UMnal  iMthod  of 


eoBy  wtiMi 


QCdIourad  eovart/ 
Couvartutada  aoulour 
v>       . 
r — ~|/Co«an  damaiad/ 
I   ^  Coovartura 


r—n^Covart  raitorad  and/or  laminaiM/ 
I  \/\  Cowvartura  rattaurta  at/ou  paNiOiMa 


□  Co«ar  tHia  miHint^ 
La  tHra  da  cowianiira  jMahqua 

•     ■.  ■  ■  / 

.   /.         .  '•..'■ 

□  Colourad  mapi/ / 
CartM  ftoraphiqim  an  eoulaur 

□  CokNMad  ink  (i.a.  othar  tlian  Mua  or  Mack)/ 
Encra  da  eoutottr  (i.a.  autra  qua  biaua  bu  noira) 

□  Colourad  plattt  and/or  ilhittratiom/ 
Piancliat  at/ou  illuttrations  an  eoulaur 

□  Bound  with  oti«ar  ifiatariai/ 
flaMb  avac  d'autrat'ikMNMiantt 

□  Tight  Mndkff  may^cauia  ihadowt  or  distortion 
alont  intarior  margin/ 

La  raliura  iarrte  paut  cautar  da  i'omhra  ou  da  la 
distortion  la  lonf  da  la  marfla  intiriaura 


□ 


Blaiik  laavas  addad  durinf  rastoration  may  i 
within  tha  taxt  Whanavar  potsibia,  thasa  hava 
baan  omittad  from  f  iiminf/ 
II  sa  paut  qua  eartainas  pagas  Manchas  aiouttes 
lors  d'una  rastauration  apparaissant  dans  la  taxta. 
mats,  lortqua  cala  itait  possiMa.  cas  pagas  n'ont 
pas  M  fihntes. 


Iloias  /  Notas  lachniquas  at  biMioflraphiquas 

L'InstitM  k  mierofihni  la  maillaur  axamplaira  qu'il 
lui  a  M  possiMa  da  sa  proeurar.  Las  d*tails  da  eal 
axamplaira  qui  sont  paut4tra  urtiquM  <hi  point  da  «ua 
bibliotrapbiqua,  qui  pauvant  modif  iar  «Mia  imaia 
raproduHa.  ou  qui  pauwant  axigM^una  modification 
.  dam  la  mithoda  normala  da  f  ibnaga  sont  indiqufc 
,  .      d-dasaoui. 

■     '  *      ■ 

-  ■    .    •»•■ 

□  Colourad  paias/  ^ 

..Papas  da  eoulaur 


D 


I  rastorod  and/or  laminatad/ 
I  rostaurias  at/ou  paNiculiat . 


I      J  Pagas  dteoiourad.  stiinad  or  foxad/ 


□  Nga^dataehad/ 
fatB4i(ktacMas 

□  ShouHlirough/ 
Transparanca 


0 


Quality  of  print  varias/ 
Qualiti  inigala  da  I'imprassion 


p*n|  Coh^nuous  pagination/ 
I       I  Pagination  contihua 


n 


Includas  indaxlas)/ 
Comprand  un  (das)  indax 

Titia  oii  haadar  takan  from:/ 
La  titra  d«  I'an-ttta'proViant: 

TitIa  paga  of  issua/ 

Paga  da  titra  da  la  livraison 


D 


I       I  Caption  of  iuua/ 


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Titra  da  depart  da  la  livraison 

Masthaad/ 

Ginariqua  (pAriodiquas)  da  la  livraison 


D 


Additional  commants:/  I  j 

Commantairas  supplimantairas: 

■':■•■,  ..--':  I    ■  "..;■- 

this  itarn  is  fihnad  at  tha  raduction  ratio  chaiBhad  balow/ 

Ca  documant  ast  f  ilmi  au  taux  da  rUuetion  indiqui  ci-dassous. 

■  10X  ,  ••■  ..  MX  ;■■*■•■■•"  ■■•■■  nx'  '■'■i.:--'- 


22X1 


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20X 


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2«x^ 


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tht  «o^  fllfiMd  h«ra  hM  bMfi  raproduofd  tiMmlit 
to  tiM  g«fMro«lt]f  of :        * 

Tin  Uihii  ClNWiN  •!  Cww<a  AwliNi 
VtenriiUiiivMiityAnMm 

Tho  Inw0o«  appoartno  horo  oft  tho  botf  ouallty 
poitiblo  eonttdorint  tho  condition  and  laoibUity 
of  tho  original  copy  and  In  koaping  with  tho 
filming  oohtraet  apoelfloatlons. 


L'oxomplairo  ftimA  f  ut  roprodult  gciot  m 


TIM  UalMi  CiMmli  9lUmtt»knMm 

VillMli  UsIVMiiy  AfMNW 

Laa  imagaa  auhrantOa  ont  AtA  roprodoitoa  ayoe  lo 
plua  grand  aoln.  aompto  tanu  do  lo  eondltlon  ot 
do  lo  nottotA  do  I'oKompiol^  flli«i4«'0t  on 
eonformlt*  ovoo  loo  oondltloi^  du  aontrot  do 
filmogo.  '    -  '     "* 


!!J-v 


.Origlnol  eoploa  In  printod  popor  eovora  oro  ftlmod 
toaginning  with  tho  front  oovorond  onding  on 
tho  loat  p*go  with  o  printod  or  llluatratad  imprat- 
aion,  or  tho  book  eovor  whon  approprtoto.  AN 
othor  originol  eoploa  aro  filmad  baginning  on  tho 
f  irat  pogo  with  o  prhitod  or  iliuatrotod  ioiproa* 
aion,  ond  onding  on  tho  loat  pago  wtth  o  printod 
or  illuttratad  improaslon. 


Tho  loat  raeordod  fromo  on  ooeh  mierofleho 
ahali  eontain  tho  aymbol  — ^  Imooning  "CON- 
tlNUlD").  or  tho  aymbol  V  Imooning  "END"), 
whichavor  appilH*         _  ^ 

Mapa.  plataa.ehorta.ote..  may  ba  filmad  at 
diffarortt  raduetlon  rotioa.  Thoao  too  large  to  bo 
omiroly  Ineludod  in  ono  oxpoauro  oro  filmad 
baginning  In  tha  upper  loft Jiond  comor,  loft  to 
right  ond  top  to  bottom,  oa  many  .f  ramea  aa 
raquirad.  Tha  following  diograma  illuatrata  the 
mefhod: 


.•.,■;  5    ■, 

..--"7 


Lea  oxomplolroa  ortglnoiM  dont  lo  aouvorturo  on 
poplor  oet  ImprimOo  aont  fllm^e  on  eommonoont 
por  lo  promlor  plot  ot  on  tormlnont  aolt  per  lo 
domlAto  pogo  qui  oomporto  uno  omprointo 
d'Improaalon  ou  dIUjirtratlon.  aolt  par  lo  aoeond 
plot,  aolon  lo  ooa.  toua  lea  outroa  aiiemplalroa 
•riglnaux  aont  fllniAa  on  eommon«ant  por  lo 
prOmMro  page  qui  eompdrto  uno  omprolnto 
dimpraailon  ou  dllluatratlon  ot  en  tormlnont  por 
lo  domMro  pago  qui  oomporto  uno  toHo 
omprolitto.  « 

tin  doe  aymboleo  auhranta  oppenittra  aur  la 
domliro  Imogo  do  ehoquo  mierofiehe.  aaioh  lo 
eoa:  lo  aymbolo  -*^  aignif lo  "A  SUIVRI".  lo 
aymbolo T  aignlflo  -FIW. 


:M- 


Laa  eortoa.  planehoa.  tableaux.  oWm  pouvant  Atro 
filmto  A  doe  taux  do  rAduotlon  dif fAranta. 
.  Loraqiia  la  document  oat  trop  grand  pour  Atro 
roprodult  on  un  aaul  ellch*.  II  eat  film*  A  partir 
do  I'ongio  pupAriour  goueho.  do  gaucha  A  drolto. 
at  da  haut  on  boa.  on  pronant  la  nombro 
d'imogoa  nAooaaaira.  Lea  diagrammaa  auivanta 
llluatf  ant  to  mAthodo. 


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REV.  GEORGE  SEXION,  A.  RL,  LL  %  K^  D. 


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Jim 


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Ivij::;!!;;;-  lArl 
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itonorary  and  OorrMpoinUng  Ftllom  of  tht  Royal  Italian  SeoMi:  o/  SqlatM; 
'  ,moiioraryll0mb9r'ofL'Aoead»miadtlQuMti,lhm^:-^ 
ir«Hi^  of  the  VMoHa  Inttltute;  PhlhaoffMcal  Soeltty  of  Jrmit  Brltblii. 

I-.-'  •:  'S-."  '  - .  ■  "  -  ''■  ■■'■  •-■;  .. . '  ■  -  ■  ■'■.::■"]'■■-  ...  :':  ■:::.- : "  ^ 

"The  Ba»ele«8  plbric  of  Sc5eoti<ic  Scepticism,"  •'Theistic  Troblemt,' 
Fallacies  of  §^^m,*'     "  Light  in  the  aoud." 
:<«rities  Dispelled,'^  ett. 


n 


Novv  iravrit 


trparffuira  B$it  irdvr»p  tSvra. 


o  bdition; 


a*  f- 


3f!'f'.iS»i<i|fi"«i-l 


J»liILADELPHlA; 
i  M.  £.  9ook  Room,  ioi8  Arch  Street 

i  TORONTO: 

W.  Bri^is,  Medio4i9t  Book  Room,  Richmond  Street 
,■  ■•  ■■■^  ,1895;  -'■  ■■       .::■■■  ,>4(^-' 


mmi^^W-^ 


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pdllg  of  J(tlieisn) 


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REV.  GEORGE  SEXTON,  LVL,  ILK  M.  D. 

Honorary  and  Corretponding  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Italian  Society  ofSeienct; 

Honorary  Member  of  L'Accademia  del  Quirltl,  Home ,' 

'Member  of  the  Victoria  Inetitute;  Philoaophical  Society  ofOreat  Britain. 

.  "  AUTHOR  OF 

"The  Baseless  Fabric  of  Scientiiic  Scepticism,"'   "Theistic  Problems,*' 

"Fallacies  of  Secularism,"     "  Light  in  the  Cloud," 

•*  Hiblical  Difficulties  Dispelled,"  etc 


NoOf  irdpra  Kotr/ieiv  ra  vpdyfiara  Bia  irdpToap  iStna, 

—Plato 


THIRD    EDITION. 


PHILADELPHIA:  ; 

M.  E.  Book  Room,  1018  Arch  Street.   ^^ 

TORCrNTO:|fc. 
W.  Briggs,  Methodist  Book  Roomy  kichmond  Street. 


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mmtb  CMUNOM 


XI 


< 


THE  FOLLY  OF  ATHEISM. 

A  Discourse  Delivered  before  the  American  InS^te 
of  Christian  Pbiipsophy. 


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..  Quid  p..te«t  e»«  t«.«  »p.M-"«  umque  per»picu.ini.  c..i« 

«  The  Etenml  Will  is  the  Civator  of  the  world.  M  Ho  is  the 
creator  of  the  finite  rea»<.n."— Ftc/t(«.  • 

»  The  Laws  of  Nature  cannot  account  for  their  own  origin." 
^-Jokn  Sivnirt  Uiii. 

"  The  omnipresence  of  soiuething  which  passes  con.prehen- 
«on  is  a-belief  which  has  nothing  to  fear  from  the  most  inex- 
Zi:  i::gic.  but  o„  the  contrary  i,  a  l.lief  wlnch^e  n^  m- 
exorable  logic  shews  to  Ikj  profoundly  true.  ^Herbert  bpencev. 

"  Forth  from  his  »1b^  and  lonely  hiding-place. 
l>brtentou«  sight  I  the  owlet  Atheism. 
Sailing  on  obscene  wings  athwart  the  moon. 
Drops  his  blue-fringed  lid.,  and  holds  them  close. 
And  hooting  at  the  glonoqs  sun  in  Heaven. 
,        Cries  out.  Where  is  it  ?"  ^Colerifge. 


^^^  ' 


Printed  by  The  8tr»tfofd  H.r»W  Printing  Co. 


.   / 
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•/ 
•/■■ 


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I' 

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ni.  cum 
ill  eMe 
mtur  ?" 


u  iH  the 


•     •       ff 

ongin. 


The  Folly  of  Atheism. 


uprehen- 
08t  inex- 
most  iii- 
Speiicer, 


-      '*•»' 


T  will  readily  lie  understood  that  the  title  of  this 
(liscourHe  hnH  been  uuKgested  by  and  is  baMd  uu 
a  pnsstti^' — /rell-known  to  everyone— in  the  ]k)ok 
of  rsaluis/wherein  we  read  that  "  the   fool  hath 
said  in  his  heart,  there  is  na  God." 
The  word  here  renderetl  fool  is  73^  ^*''^  hdhV,  and  is  de- 
rived from  a  root  signifyinf;   to  wither.     It  has  doubtless  a 
reference  to  the  withering  of  the  soul  that  a  denial  of  God  in- 
volves.    In  Psalm  i.  3  we  read  of  the  godly  man.  "  his  leaf  also 
shall  not  wither,"  where  tJb^||tune'word  is  employed,  signifying 
^  spiritual  degeneracy,  or  tM|^|Pwering  of  that  part  of  man  which 
"^^Vsi^rliim  above  the  inferior  creatures.    The  roan  who- believes 
in  God,  and  delights  in  His  law,  shall  not  only  bring  forth  truit 
in  abuildi^nce  hi  his  actions,  but  his  leaf  ^also — the  embellish- 
ment of  his  chnracter-^shall  not  wither  or  decline.      When  the 
Psalmist,  therefore,  Would  deseri^  an  At^leist,  he  speaks  of  him 
as  one  who  i^  withered.     His/actions  Will  be  sterile,  and  his 
character  barren.      In  allgrea^  aqd  noble  undertakings  he  will 
be  unfriiitful.     And  this  has  been  the  characteristic  of  Atheism 
in  all  ages  of  the  world.     It  is  cold,  negative,  cheerless,  and 
gloomy,  lacking  enthusiasm,  feeling,  emotion  and  sympathy. 

The  Atheist  often  complains  that  David,  in  calling  him  a 
fool,  w^  guilty  of  a  lack  of  courtesy.  But  truth  is  higher  than 
politeness.  Strong  language  is  often  justifiable,  and,  as  a  rule, 
unbelievers  are  not  slow  to  use  it.  They  thunder  and  fulmin- 
ate, pile  up  expletives  in  their  language,  and  hurl  abroad  their 
anathemas  like '  small  Joves  incensed  with  passion.     Moreover 


■/■. 


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o,,e  of  their  own  u|Kmtlek-no  lew  •  i«rm,n«KO  Umn  TtioinM 
fHine— hM  nenily  ro-echoetl  UftvUl'i  wonU  He  Myt.  "  It  li 
th«  fool  olilv  011.1  not  the  phih»*>pher.  or  pni.lent  man.  who 
would  live  M  if  there  were  lu.  ( UMi."  Daviil.  however,  cloe.  not 
ugv  the  term  iraiwUietl  fo«.l.  in  un  i.tTenHivo  manner.  Hia 
meaning  in.  that  the  man  who  my«,  There  is  no  (M.  i«  foohih  ; 
hi.  «mriln.il  f.»cuUy  im  withered ;  hi«  reaaonin^  p^mern  are  at 
fault ;  h«  iulellect  is  defective  on  x\m  higher  *ide-the  tide  that 
opens  up  O.Kiw.ii.1.  He  in  deatituU^  of  that  true  wia.lon»  which 
JongH  to  religion,  and  whi.h  eun  fin.l  it«  full  ex^.reasion  only 
in  Divine  worihip.     Shake.<»|)e.irc  Mays  :— 

••  r.od  shall  »>c  niy  ho|»e, 
My  itay,  my  guide,  and  tentern  to  my,  feet." 

TheChriMtian  nian  who  echo-.K  this  Hentiment  cannot  but  feil 
that  he  wholuckH  this  ho|K..  lhi«  guide  and  light,  to  illumu..- 
his  path,  walks  in  the  darkness  without  a  guide,  ami  destUule 
of  any  s.did  groun.l  f.»r  hope.  His  refusal  to  be  tlius  led  ana 
cheered  is.  to  say  the  least  of  it,  unwise. 

-  Not  alone:  however;  are  the  spiritual  perceptions  of  Ih.. 
Atheist  withere«l  and  deteriorated,  but  his  reasoning  iM.wen. 
„,ust  iKj  terribly  at  fault ;  for  nt  every  point  to  which  we  tmn 
the  evidence  of  <}od«  existence   is  overwhelming,     llus  I  shall 

now  proceed  to  show.  " 

The  question  of  Ootl's  existence  lies  at  the  rwit  of  .ill 
religion,  and  is  its  foundation  and  supD^.rt.  If  there  Ik-  no  (in.| 
then  it  is  clear  that  every  system  of  Theology  in  the  world  miiHt 
be  false,  and  all  worship  idle  and  .lijlusive.  The  large  majority 
of  th^hopes  and  fears  that  have  agitated  men's  minds  from  the 
dawn  of  humanity  until  now  have  been  simply  the  mad  dr.aius 
of  millions  of  disordered  brains.  Uiseless  as  the  visions  ui  the 
night  and  unsubaUntial  as  the  hallucinations  of  a  nmi.iur. 
Certoin  it  i««  that  if  Atheism  be  the  true  philosophy,  the  wholo 
woild  withafew  exceptional  instances,  h'^rdly  worth  naming, 
has  been  labouring  under  a  huge  .delusion  ever  since  the  time 
when  the  earliest  records  give  us  the   fairttest  knowledge  of  the 


/ 


\ 


miyiti}(ii  nml  floingn  of  our  r«ce.    'And  rv«ii  to-<Uy   upon  tliU 
Nup|x>Ki(ionrt|iu  initluH  iK)t  known  to  oni;  man  in  a  million — 
tho  rHHl  aru  still  in  itiedurkneMiof  ulil  erroM,  unit  niiitled  liy  tho 
HU{Mi!iMtition  of  their  fullierK     To  Hay  the  Ifant  of  it.  lliis  ht  not 
a  pleaiMUit  Mlatv  uf  t)iingH  to   conlcmpliitu.  when   we  tuke    into 
oonsiderution  the  uniNUulh^liMl   mnHolation  thai  religion  has  in 
all    times  l)r()|t^1it  to   tlin  Hiiffuriug,  the   friundleii'  and  tho   dis- 
tressed, the  |)ersccn\,(Hl  and  the  nftlicted,  the  sick  and  the  dyi^j^* 
Not  easily  will  men  give  up  their  faith  in  (itMl  until  something 
higlier,  nobler  and  lietU^r   adapted  to  human  needs  and    human 
wants  Ih)  offered  in  itH  place.     Sh(»wu8  that  (r<Hl  is  not',  and  the 
loHM    is    incalculalile.     Then   shall    we  feel    what  has   Wn  so 
graphically  descril>ed    by  the  gicat  Qerniah — Richter — so  well 
reinlereil  into  Knglish  by   Thomas  Carlyle.     He  rent^rks — it  is"^ 
Christ   who  is  sup]Hi8ed  to  be  s))eaking — "  I  went   through  the 
worUls,  I  niounU>d   into  the  .suns,  and  Hew    with  the   galajti^s 
through  the  wastes  of  Heaven  ;  but  there  is  no  (iod.     1  descend- 
as  far  as    lieing  ctists  its  shadow,   and  looked   dowi)  into  the 
abyss,  and  cried, '  Father,  where  art  thou  ('     Dut  I    heai-d  only 
the  everlasting  storm  which    no  one  guides,  and  the  gleaming 
rainbow  of  creation  hung  without  a  sun  that  made  it,  over  th« 
abyss  and  trickled  down.     And  when  I  looked  up  to  the  im- 
measurable world  for  the  Divine  ^j^e,  it  glared  on  me   with  an 
empty,  black,  bottomless  eye-aocket,  and  Eternity  lay  upon  Chaos, 
eating  it  and  ruminating  it.    Cryon,ye  dissonances;  cry  away  the 
shadows,  for'fle  is  not. .   The  pale  grown  shadows  flitted  away,  as 
white  vapour  which  frost  has  formed  with  the  warm  breath 
disappears,  and  all  was  void.     And  then  cAine,  fearful  for  the 
h£ait,  the  dead  children  who  had  been  awakened  in  the  church- 
yard into  the  temple,  and  cast  themselves  before  the  high  form 
on  the  altar,  .and  said,  '  Jesus,  have  we  no  Father  ?'    And  he 
answered,  with  streaming  tears,'  We  are  all  orphans,  Pand  you  : 
we  are  without  Father.' "    Then  came  loud  shrieking  of  disson^ 
ances,  parting  asunder  of  quivering  temple  walls,  "  grinding' 
>ress  of  Worlds,  the  torch  dance  of  celestial  wild-fires,"  "  glim- 
lering  souls  upon  the  sea  of  Death."  "void  of  immensity," 
[Dead,  dumb,  Nothingness."    "Cold    everlasting   Necessity," 


-^K*i«  *C 


^ 


'# 


J  r 


"Frantic  Chance!"  The  contemplation  is  a  terrible  one.  that 
we  may  be  poor  helplew  orphans  tosseil  on  the  boisterous  and 
uncertain  sea  of  chance,  with  no  compass  to  steer  by,  no' pilot  to 
Rujjle,  and  no  chart  of  the  ocean  on  which  we  are  drifting  so 
recklessly  and  so  mercilessly.  Looking  at  the  bare  possibility 
of  such  a  state  of  things  we  are  led  to  cry  out  itf  the  language 
of  Wordsworth :  *  ,   , 

Great  God!  I .'d  rather  be 

A  pagan  suckled  in  acreed  outworn, . 
So  that,  standing  on  some  pleasant  lea, 

I  might  have  glimpses  that  would  make  me  less  forlorn. 

But  the  question  before  us  is  whether  this  unlovely  system 
be  true  or  false.  And  my  business  is  to  prote  it  utterly  false, 
neither  conformable  to  science,  reason  or  philosophy,  and  oppos- 
ed to  all  sound  thought. 

Theism  asserts  that  there  is  a  God,  and  as  far  as  I  am 
concerned  I  do  this  in  the  most  positive  manner.  I  do  not  say 
I  think  there  is  a  God,  or  I  believe  there  iaa  God,  but,  there  is 
a  God,  or  in  other  words  Goil  exists.  The  Atheist  says  there  is 
no  God.  And  do  not  let  me  be  told  here  that  Atheists  do  not 
deny  the  existence  of  God,  for  I  can  show  you 'if  necessary  tliiit 
many  of  them  have  done  so  in  the  most  dogmatic  fashion* 
The  more  moderate  form  of  unbelief,  however,  is  content  to  say 
that  there  may  be  a  God,  but  that  sufficient  evidence  of  His 
existence  is  not  to  be  had.  This  is  in  reality  not  Atheism,  but 
Agnosticism:  Nevertheless  it  will  answer  equally  well  for  my 
purpose  on  this  occasion.  Theism  is  as  I  will  show  you  cap- 
able of  furnishing  a  rational  theory  of  the  Universe,  harmonitms 
and  complete  as  a  whole  and  therefore  satisfactory  from  a 
philosophic  standpoint,  and  we  demand  of  Atheism  that  it  shall 
do  the  same,  and  if  it  fail,  as  it  most  assuredly  will,  then  we 
must  pronounce  it  unphilosophic  and  false.  You  will  find  as  a 
rule  that  the  Atheist  will  take  refuge  behind  a  negation,  saying 
that  as  he  affirms  nothing  he  cannot  be  expected  to  prme  a 
negative,  and  hence  by  this  means  he  seeks  to   nvgid  all  ar^'u- 

*Vide  Appendi*  A. 

_  :1:  '  \/r  ■'  ■' ;  ■ ,  .■' ,.  _  '      ■    .    ■;.. \   ...       .  -/■      .; 


^tifr. 


■  ...t.  ^    ,.  -: . 


'  P^'^'S^fc's^^ep^j.r*'^ -t™?? 


5-',r  A*^ 


rm^-'-^fi^Wjw^Wi^y^^ 


0 


niifeiit,  save  that  of  mere  denial,  which  of  cat^se  is  a  very  easy 
piocess,  whatever  niay  be  the  truth  that  is  set  forth  or  affinned. 
Mr.  Holyoake^  an  authorityjon   the  Atheistic  side; — himself  an 
Atheist— has  well  said  oif  the  mere  Negationist,  "  His  stock   in 
trade  is  the  simplest  possible.     He  has  only  to  deny  what  some- 
body else  holds  and  he  is  set  up  in  the  art  of  controversy."    This 
is  very  true.'    Denials  are  of  course  simple  enough.     Pnlliiig 
<lbwn  or  destroying  is  very  easy  work;    An  idiot  may  spoil 
a  painting  in  five  minutes  which  it  t^^  a  man  of  genius  a  life 
time  to  produce     But  w;e  cannot  allow  the  Atheist  to  take  this 
position.     For  he  often  affirms  very  inuch  indeed  und  his  afiir« 
I  mations  require  procrf  equajly  with  tho$e  of  liie  Theist     And 
besides  in  philosophj'  the  human    mind  cannot  rust  in  a  mere 
[negation.     Thus,  if  Atheism   be  the   true  philosophy  of  the 
[universe,  it  mu^t  prove   itself  to  be  so,  by  boldly   facing  all  the 
facts  of  existence,  and  giving  us  such  an  explanation  of  them  as 
Bt  is  able  to  furnish.     Unless  it  can  du  this,  it  can  never  satisfy 
thinking,  enquiring  mind.     The  position   taken  by   a  certain 
inodern   school,  that  we  should  rest  content  witfi  the   facts  of 
iature,  and  make  no  attempt  to  draw  inferences  from  them,  is 
ibsurd,  and  the  task  which  it  enjohrs  impossible.     No  sane  man 
!tiD  long  be  content  to  contract  his  thoughts  within  the  narrow 
)nuMrl:irics  of  the  region  of  sense,  and  to  rest  in  the  confines  of 
the  visible.    Facts  are  valueless,  except  as  far  as  they  shadow 
|orth  a  philosophy  relating  to  that  which  lies  behind  them,  and 
le  business  of  which  is    to  explain  them  and  to  trace   their 
loses.     Any  attempt  to  drive  back  the  human  inind  from  this 
iquiry  must  inevitably  fail,  as  it  has  always  failed  in   the  liis- 
)ry  of  the  past.    As  Professor  Huxley  has  well  said,  "The 
prm  positive,  as  implying  a  system  of  thought,  which  assumes 
)thing  beyond  the  content  of  observed  facts,  implies  that  which 
syer  did  exist,  and  never  will."*    And  even  Herbert  Spencer, 
^fao  cannot  be  accused  of  any  predilectidns  in  favour  of  Theism, 
narks:  "  I^ositive  knowledge  never  can  fill  the  whole  region 
thought.    At  the   uttermost  reach  of  discovery  there  must 


r 


/•  I 


*Lay  Sermons  p.,  178. 


'i-faS 


# 


'.'1«*^«P"^"'  "^^ 


., «, 


%■ 


ever  arise  the  question,  What  lies  beyond  ?  The  human  mind, 
throughout  all  time,  must  occupy  itself  not  only  with  ascertain- 
ed phenomena  and  their  relations,  but  also  with  that  unascertain- 
ed something  wiiieh  phenomena  and  their  relations  imply."* 
Any  system,  therefor;?,  to  be  worth  a  straw,  must  deal  with 
thai  which  lies  beyoiul  the  domain  of  fact,  and  must  be  prepar- 
ed to  hazard  some  sort  of  a  theory  as  to  the  why  and  the  where- 
fore of  things.  Herein  it  is  that  Atheism  has  always  broken 
down.  . 

Theology  has  usually  been  considered  to  occupy  ground 
perfectly  distinct  fioni,  and  of  altogether  n  different  churacter 
from,  that  upon  which  Science  finds  her  sure  and  certain  foot- 
ing.    This  notion  is  utterly  iticorrect.     Thecdoey  is  as  niueh 
a.  science  as  geology  or  chemistry.     The  existence  of  Grod   is  iis 
clear  an  induction  from  observed  and   recorded   facts  as   the 
Copernican  systeui  of  astronomy,  the  evidence  ui»on  which  both 
are  received  being  of  pwniisely  the  same  churacter.    The  Baconian 
principle  of  induction,  which  lias  furnished  us   with  the   true 
scientiHc  method,  consists  in  collecting  all  the  facts   that  liave 
any  bearing  on  the  subject,  bringing  these  tt)gether,  arranging 
and  classifying  them,  so  that  they  no  longer  stand  out,  in  dis- 
jointed isolation,  but  form  one  grand  whole.     This  done,  a  law 
is  inferred  which  shall  cover  the  ground  occupied  by  all  facts,^ 
and  with  which  each  one  shall  be  in  harmony.  'In  the  words 
of  an  anonymous  writer  in  a  review  :     "Take  astronomy  as  an 
example.     In  the  heaven  above  us  thei'e  are  certain  facts,  or 
phenomena,  which  men  could  not  fail  to  obs^erve ;  as,  for  iu- 
sUuice,  the  risfhgand  setting  of  the  sun,  the  waxing  and  wan- 
ing of  the  moon,  the  regular  recttirence  of  the  stars,  at  certain 
periods,  along  a  fixed  path  or  orbit.     Merely  to  observe  and  re- 
cord these  facts  was  not  enough  for  reasoimble  man.     He    was 
compelled   by   his  very   nature  to  reason— i.  e.,  to   theorise — 
upon  them,  to  seek  for  some  Uiw  under  which  they   might  be 
rangeid,  for  some  cause  to  which  tliey  might   be  traced.     He 
could  not  but  ask, '  From  what  does  the  regular  order  and  re- 
curraacs  of  these  p!iono:nen  i  spring  V    And  after  other  answers 
♦First  Principles,  pp.  16,  17.  ."    - 


-T  -, 


^iils, 


:n***P:WiS!»*.?»'*««^.i«ww**8y'ff*RW»w^a»»*«'-; 


V^^^^^IR-?^'" 


...  \  ■   n  ■  ..       •..■■■■  ■'■:/■-,. 

to  the  question  had  been  Riven  and  accepted  for  a  time,  he  lit 
on  that  which  satisfies  him  to  this  day,  in  the  law  of  gravitation. 
This  law  is  simply  an  inference,  an  liypothesis,  a  theory  ;  but  it 
accounts  for  the  astronomical  facts  us  no  otlier  theory  does: 
and,  in  this,  therefore,  at  least  for  the  present,  and  till  dome 
wider  ^generalisation  be  reached,  the  inquisitive  reason  of  man 
rests  and  is  satisfied.  Thus,  from  a  multitude  of  effects,  scatter- 
ed tlirough  the  uaiverse,  man  has  argued  up  to  a  cause,  or  law, 

I  tc^  which  they  may  all  l)e  referred."    This  is  the  method  pursued 
in  all  branches  of  science,  and  it  is  the  one  which  we  follow  in 

i  theology.    Science  is  nothing  but  our  reading  of  natural  facts 

I— our  theory  of  the  phenomena  of  the  universe.     We  arrive  at 

the  hypothesis  by  arguing  up  from  effects  to  their  causes,  or 

l^lown  from  a  cause  t>o  its  effects.     Now,  if  it  can  be  shown— ns 

II  feel  confident  it  can— that  the  existence  of  God  is  reached  by  . 
{this  process,  we  thereby  bring  tbeolosiy  into  the  field  of  science, 
Lnd  establish  its  primal  truth  upon  the  same  footing  as  gravita- 
Ition  or  any  other  so-called  natural  law.  And  the  Atheist  who 
Iwould  overturn  oui  theory  is  bound,  in  the  first  place,  to  show 
Ithat  our  induction   does  not  square  with  the  facts,  and,  in  the 

Bcond,  to  give  us  a  non-Theistic  hypothesis  which  does.     Sir 

[isaac  Newton— and  hardly  a  greater  authority  could  be  quoted 

-hn3  well  said   "The    reasoning  on   to   God    lies  properly 

Iwitliin  the  domain  of  science.     For  it  belongs  to  science  starting 

from  phenomena''to  stop  not  till  it  raise  us  to  the  hidden  ground 

»f  these  phenomemu"    And  it  is  by  this  process— a  strictly 

Bientific  one- that  we  reach  the  proofs  ofijod's  existence 

In  dealing  with  this  question,  we  must,  start  from  facts, 
for  with  facts  all  thought  must  begin,  but  not  terminate.  Lord 
icon  has  well  observed  that"  those  who  have  handled  science 
have  either  been  men  of  experiment  or  of  theory.  The  men  of 
Bxperiment  are  like  thte  ant— they  only  collect  and  use.  The 
theorists  are  like  the  spiders  who  make  cobwebs  out  of  their 
^wn  substance.  But  the  bee  takes  a  middle  course ;  it  gathers 
[ts  materials  from  the  flowers  of  the  garden  and  the  field,  but 
fcransfornis  and  digests  th€^  by  a  power  of  its  own.    Not  unlike 


.,^.. 


/ 


* 


f.- 


P.1 


»§ 


r.J 


•  -Tf«»Vj.      "-T"-^   ff 


-^ 


\J 


■  '.:  ■  :■  .-■  ■"■.■■■  ■'■  ''2  ■  ■  ■■^    '■■■■•  ■-: 

'"■■■■*  .      •  ■  ■  ■  , 

t  his  i8  the  true  business  of  philosophy."*     And  it  is  this  true 
principle  of  philosophy  that  must  Ije  followed  in  discussing  the 
question  before  us.    The  nmterial  that   we  use  in  thought  must 
be  gathered  from  facts;  but  our  depisions  must  rest  with  the 
legitimate   inferences  that  afe  derived  from  these.     All   man's    ' 
knowledge,  according  to  Kant,  begins  with  sensible  exi>crieEce : 
but  all  does  not  come  from  experience.     Every  fact  has  a  mean- 
ing.  sometimes   lying  very   deep   down  in  its  naH^«;  and  ihis 
meaning  has  to  be  extracted  if  we  would  arrive  ftUaif  accurate 
opinion?    We  nnist  .luestion  the  phenomena  of  the  universe,  in 
oi^der  to  learn  wbat  tbey  have  to  say  of  their  eau.ses.  their  rela- 
tions and  their  purposes.  .  This  may  not  always  be  an  easy  task, 
but  it  is  a  very  essential  om,  if  we  would  nirive  at  a  correct 
conclusion.     Sophocles  remaiks:-* 

'*  What's  sought  tor  niay  be  iound, 
r  iJut  truth  unscarch'd  for  seld6pi  comes  to  liKht.t 

Tlii.*^  is  terribly  appKcabh  to  inaiiVof  the  Atheists  that  I 
hVe  known.  Their  miuds  api)ear  to  haVe  been  cast  in  such  » 
mould  tlmt  thev  can  see  nothing  l)eyond  the  most  piili)able  of 
material  things.'  Hence  facts  have  for  them  no  meaning  beyond 
that  mere  semblance  which  always  appears  on  the  outside. 

I  will  now   hiy  down  a  series  of   proppsitions  to   which  I 
beg  you  to  give  me  your  attention. 
"  I.    I  Exis-R    1  Know  that  I  am  a  Conscious  Personal 

BeiXO,  OK  WHAT   l»HILO.SOrHEltS  CAIX   AN    ECSO. 

In  making  this  atfirMiation  that  I  exist,  1  attirni  of  mysel  f 
something  that  i.s  simply  amid.st  the  complexity  <»f  my  sur- 
roundings and  the  variety  of  my  thoughts.  This  Ego  may 
manifest  itself  in  a  thousand  diflTerent  ways,  but  utidenieath 
these  manifestations  there  lies  .something  that  is  substantial 
amidst   the  mere  phenomenal  vj.riations.     That  which  1  call 

*Novuni  Organuni,  Aph.  95. 

'\\<uT6viK4>€vyci  BerafieXovfievoi'. 


I 


—  A 


r.^:;-?!- , 


4L.s^^%^(^t  fiVI?*   Jv^ia^ftB.!  la  f 


-(»"•.  ••■■*. 


■,»:    :. 


13 


myself  is  not  a  collection  of  sensation  or  ajc'ongeries  of  th6ught» 
but  a  something  to  which  both  thought^'and  sensations  belongs 
It  is  a  central  point  to  which  all  the  influences  that  affect  ijae 
converge  and  from  which  all  the  affluences  by  which  I  affect 
other  things  diverge.  When  I  uifii  the  pronoiin  "  I  "  it  is  to- 
mark  myself  in  contradistinction,  not  only  to  all  that^sur- 
irounds  nie,  but  to  all  else  that  apipe'rtains  to  me.  When- 
ever I  affirm  my  consciousness  ^  I  t^'^re^^y  affirm  my 
existence  as  a  separate  personality;  Sensation,  i>erception^ 
volition,  action,  are  reeoj^nized  hjf  nie,  not  as  self,  but 
as  affections  and  exertions  of  self.  1 4m  not  and  cannot  be  an 
abstraction,  but  a  substantial  existence,  and  my  knowledge  ot 
this  existence  is  higher  than  n.ny  1  can  possibly  obtain  of  my 
surroundings  or  of  anything  which  is  exterior  to  me.  Then  I 
see  around  me  other  personages  whom  I  infer  lo  be  like  myself, 
conscious  thinking  l)eings.  I  do  not  and  amnot  seej.heir  Con- 
sciousiiess,  but  only  tlie  numifcstatioii  of  such  consciousness 
which  is  fact  enough.  Prof.  Mauriice  has  well,  said  "  The  stu- 
dent of  history  finds  himself  amidst  a  woild  of  I's."  All  my 
knowledge  must  be  tested  by  my  ciiwciousness.  The  external 
world  can  only  be  proved  to  exist  by^|j|)ealing  to  this  conscious- 
ness. The  senses  arc  simply  the  iiilets  to  this  and  of  themselves 
have  no  separate  or  iiideiMmdent  menus  of  deciding  anything. 
Here  it  is  that  the  matcrinlistic  philosophy  so  thoroughly 
breaks  down,  for  it  elevates  uuUtcr  aljove  that  by  which  alone 
material  existences  Can  be  known. 

IL  It  IS  A  Nkxjessarv  Truth  FROM  WHICH  thkhe  is  no 
ESCAPE  that  Something  is  Eternal,     r 

Something  must  have  existed  from  all  Eternity.  This 
truth  is  axiomatic.  It  is  a  necessity  of  thought  and,  conse- 
quently, needs  no  prcwf,  and  is  .susceptible  of  none,  because  it  is 
a  necessity  of  thought.  Something  must  have  existed  from  all 
Eternity,  or  there  had  still  i>een  nought ;  for  ear  nihilo  nihil  fit, 
"  This,"  says  Dr.  Saiquel  (Jlark,  ;•  is  so  evident  and  undeniable 
a  prop9sition  that  no  Ailicist  in  aiiy  afge  has  ever  presumed  to 
assert  the  contrary  ;  and  therefore  tliere  iS  little  need  of  being 
particular  in  the  proof  of  it.     For,  since  something  now   is, 'Us 


-  '""*^";t  ^if  rst^wji'^'T^'-i^t,  iiM?  , 


;  -  n^^i  -ry    \  f^'"-""ji 


mr 


t'    .  .u  .     „o*K:nc»  alwavs  was.    Otherwise,  the  things* that 
Xhout  cui^wWcl.  i.  .  plain  co»«.diot.on  m  term..    Fo  to 

^T  Whatever  exists  has  «  cause,  a  reason,  a  grooud  of  ito  ex- 
•  U  JSlti*..  o»  which  its  existence  re.ies,  a  ground  or 
^^whYitdoth  exist  mther  than  n«t  ex,st-*.lher  n  the 
^Ts^ity  of  iU  o«n  nature  (and  then  it  must  have  been  of  .Uelt 
eurnTor  i"  th*  will  of  »me  other  U=ing  (and  then  that  other 
tog  must,  at  le.4t,  in  the  order  of  nature  and  eafls..  .ty.  have 
SL  before  it)     That  something,  therefore,  has  really  exis^d 

^Z  all  eternil,-  is  one  of  the  «rt»inest  and  most^^ulenl  truths 

iT^e  «orld,.ckno«ledged  by  all  men  and  d,s,,«ted  by  none.  Yet 

Z  0  the  manner  how  it  can  be,  there  is  ..othmg  m  nature  more 

-Mcult  for  the  mind  of  man  to  co„ceivs.than  to  very  first 

plain  and  self-evident  truth.    For  how  anyth.ng  ea.v  have 

.existed  eternally,  thit  is,  l.»w  an  eu,rm.l  dumt.on  can  be  now 

J^tually  past,  is  a  thing  utterly  •«  .mposaible  for  our  narrow 

STito  RS  to  comp.#.d  as  .nytlv»g  that  .s  not  an^ex- 

■  p„ss  contraction  can  be  imagined  ttfbe.     And  yet  to  deny 

ihe  truth  of  the  proposition,  that  an  eterl,.    duration  .s  now 

actimllv  past,  would  be  to  assert  something  far  umre  ud.ntel  ,«• 

S    even  au  express  and  real  co„tr«lictio„.-     S«meth,„«, 

thereto  c,  mAtst  have  been  eternal.  .  That  eter.u.1  somethu.g, 

whatever  maybe  its  nature,  is  infinite,  at  least  .nduraU.m 

This  is,  I  t»keit,a  point  upon  which  the  Atheuit  and  the  Thnst 

are  both  agreed.    Nor  can  that  which  is  inHnite  m  duration  be. 

limited  in  extent,  for   that  supposition  would  imply  an  inhnlle 

existence  with  a  finite  attribute,  or  a  finite  existence  w.h  aa 

infinite  attribute;  or  some  sort  of  existence  combining  in  itself 

infinite  and  finite  attributes,  either  of  which  is  a  contradiction 

of  tirms,  because  it  implies  a  finite  infinity,  which  is  as  irralion. 

,1  as  .  square  circle  or  a  crooked  straight  line.    The  point,  there- 

fore,  where  a  divergence  takes  place  between  the  Atliei.«t  and 

•Being  and  Attribotes  ol  God,  9th  Ed.,  pp.  «.  9- 


.■^<^4  WKr*a^F^«|%Jrji^^'^?^    '*^ 


f.*-., 


'F» 


the  Theist  is  as  to  the  nature  ol  the  one  Infinite  Existence* 
JII.    Thb  Eternal  and  Infinite  Existence  ih  Not  Man. 
This  is  so  self-evident    that  no  time  need  be   taken  up 
in  proving  it.     Each   individual   man  knoK^  that  he   has  not 
existed  from  Eternity.    Neither  has  the  race   to  which  he 
belongs.     For  in  the  first  place  such  a  supposition   is  philoso- 
phically absurd  as  it  implies  an  infinite  chain  made  up  of  finite 
linka     And  secondly,  science  has  demonstrated  thit  there  was 
a  time  on  the  planet  when  nian  wa?  nj)t.     If  i^  be  said  that  man 
was  evolved  from  a  lower  animal,  I  reply  there  was  a  time  when 
no  living  orgai.isiiv  existed.     Man  ytras  therefore  produced,  that 
is,  caused  in  time. '  Somewhat  or  some  one  must  have  preceded 
him,  and   brought   him  into  being.     And  this  cause,  whatever 
may  be  its  nature  or  by  whatever  name  it  may   be  called,  must 
have  been  adeciuate   to  the  production  of  the  eflTect  which  we 
call  man.     It  must  not  only  have  been  capable  of  moulding  his 
bodily  organs  with  marvellous  precision  and  skUl,  adapting  one 
to  the  ether,  and  the  whole  to  the  world  in  which  he  lives,  but 
,  it  must  have  given  him  life,  a  task  which  could  only  be  acbom- 
jplished  by  that  which  was  itself  alive  as  modern   science  fully 
jattests.    This  cause  must  therefore  have  been  a  living  power, 
for  that  which  does  not  live  pannot  impart  life.   .Moreover  as 
jman  is  intelligent,  this  cause  must  have  beencapi^le  of  impart- 
jing  inte'ligence  and  therefore   itself  intemgent,  for  intelligence 
jto  originate  in  noa-intelligence  is  re^ly  for  something  to  spring 
Ifrom  nothing,  which  is  absurd.    And  then  that  substratum  in 
jman   which  constitutes  him  an  Ego.  which   ui-derlies  all   the 
'T>henomena  of  his  external  nature,  could  originate  only  in   that 
vhich  u  not  phenomenal   but  has  an  existence  as  an  Eternal 
eality.     A  modern  writer  has  well  said  "  As  imperatively  as  I 
ayself  and  all  other  phenomena  of  the  visible   world,  with 
Jur  limitations  of  place  and  time,  demand  the  recognition  of 
-^alities  underlying  and  producing  them,  which  realities  consti- 
ite  an  invisible  world  l«yond  the  limits  of  place  and  time,  so 
iperatively  does  the  Hunted  conditions,  yet  regulated  play  of 
tiese  realities  demand  the  recognition  of  a  transcendent  Reaii 
7.  an  Ens  RealisHimum,  unlimited,  unconditioned,  by  whom    - 


1  s 


4.  I 


■     16    . 

they  must  be  a(yu9ted  and  actuated,  from  whom   they  must 
<jome  and  iii  whom  they   muat  perpetually  have  thenr  bemg. 
In  the  fact  that   1  am,   is  involved   that  of  an  mtelhgent  and 
conscious  Reality,  capable  of  producing  me  and  others  like  me 
in  the  race  towhich  I  beloiig. 
X    IV.    Thb  Etbrnal  and  Absolute  Exihtbncb  w  Not  the 

Matbkial  Univeiwk.  . 

^  This  proposition  is  of  course  the  one  to  which  the  Atheist 
will  take  exception.     But  it  ean  nevertheless  be  supported  by 

^  arguments  which  are  quite  unanswerable.  We  have  swn  that 
there  is  somewhere  an  Eternal  Reality,  .ind  it  Is  not  difficult  to 
show  that  such  a  Reality  cannot  be  found  in  any  part  of 
material  nature  or  in  the  physical  universe  as  a  whole. 

'  7.  The,  materitd  univerM  is  conditioned  and  limited 
and  cannot  therefore  either  in  its  parts  or  as  a  wluAe  con- 
atitute  the  Afmlute  and  Unconditioned  One.  / 

Everything  that  we  recognise  in  the  external  world  and  in 
man  is  conditional  and  limited.  All  the  facts  of  nature  will. 
which  we  nre  familiar— indeed,  all  those  of  which  we  are  caj)- 
able  of  conceiving  in  matter— are  interdependent,  limited  by 
and  limiting  each  other.  They  constitute,  iu  fact,  what  we  call 
phenomena— a  word  which  of  itself,  as  every  Greek  schobir 
knows,  means  an  appearance,  and  sustauiing  a  relation  to  that 
which  is  sulwtantiftl  and  underlying  A  phenomenon  cannot 
stand  by  itself.  It  has  no  meaning  except  in  relation  to  a  sul)- 
staiitive,  which  is  its  subject  and  support.  Say^  Rittev,  a 
celebraled  German  thinker:  "No  phenomena  could  present 
themselves  before  us  unless  there  existeil  something  as  tlicir 
ground— sometliing  of  which  we  can  predicate  these  to  be  the 
¥  phenomena.  The  very  notion,  therefore,  of  '  appearanceH*  re- 
<iuites  for  its  cempletion  the  'correlative'  notion  of  '  grounds' 
for  these  appearances,  of  which  grounds  these  appearances  are 
the  predicates."!  Whenever,  therefore,  we  think  of  phenomena 
we  are  compelled  My  a  stern  necessity  of  the  laws  of  thought  to 
think  of  something  upon  which  these  phenomena  depend,  and 

•      *Grifiith.  .     ■  .   ■  .#■  ■:     ■->■ 

tUMerWichkeit 


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. 

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"TYf  ."M^"™ '***-'!  *f^'';'  ^fljm'^wTi 


tb  which  they  owe  their  origin.  Limitation  is  an  essential 
charactemtic  of  matter  in  all  its  forms.  You  cannot  conceive. 
If  you  try,  of  unlimited  matter.  Now.  that  which  is  limitetl.  in 
the  very  nature  of  things,  can  neither  be  Infinite  nor  Absolute. 
Yet  there  must  be  an  Absolute,  since  without  the  Uncondition- 
ed, nothing  that  is  conditioned  could  exist  ;  and  there  must  be 
an  Infinite,  for  it  is  one  of  the  necessities  of  thought.  You  can- 
not-even  think  it  out  of  e.xistence.  The  Atheist,  then,  is  bound 
to  tell  us  where  and  what  is  the  Infiniteand  Absolute  existence. 
He  must  either  show  some  form  of  matter  that  is  unconditioned 
and  unlinjited,  which  is,  in  fact,  a  c4>ntradiction  in  terms ;  or 
prove  that  there  is  no  Ab««ilute.  existence,  which  is.  in  truth, 
to  deny  all  existence;  or  he  must  admit  that  the  Infinite  is 
something  transcending  all  material  things,  which  is  to  re- 
lincjuish  his  Atheism. 

^  ^.  All  the  phenomena  of  the  materinl  universe,  conniet 
ofasenee  of  changes,  which  artr also  Relative,  limited  Subm- 
dinate  and  Secondary. 

This  being  so,  to  what  conclusion  are  we  li-ifesistibly  driven 
by  what  Herbert  Spencer  calls  "the  momentuto  of  thought" 
which  leads  us  from  the  things  as  they  appear  to  the  why  and 
how  of  their  existence  ?    The  inference  is  as  clear  as  that  two 
and  two  make  four,  that  there  must  be  a   Prime  Mover  from 
whom  all  these  secondary  movements  spring.    A  consideration- 
of  this  fact  it  was  that  let  Aristotle  to  ascend  from  all  observ- 
able movements  and   principle- of  motion  up  to  what  he  calls 
the  ••  principle  of  principles,"  the  fii-st" immoveable   mover" 
which  "causes  all  things  else  to  move."    All  movements  that 
^we  see  ar«?    conditioned    by  other   movements.      Nq  single 
^material  thing  with  which  we  are  acquainted  can  move  itself 
lOr  stop  itself  when  set  in  motion.     There  is   no  property  of 
imal^r  letter  kgown  or  more  thoroughly  established*than  that 
^ot  IneHta*  oti^it  is  now  ca^p^  AfMUy.    How,  then,  is 
fmotion  caused  ?    I  do  not  mean  secondary  motion,  but  primary     * 
lotion.    Whence  do  all  these  subordinate  movements  have 
^heir  origin  ?    There  is  no  primary  movement  in  any  material  ^ 
*FiUe  AppencKx  a 


'«L' 


n 


-i'-'^^^  '^i^hiS- 


i-^^  ^^    -    J  '  ^gi^^^^^r      '* 


thing  witii  whifch  wo  ure  ao«|ualiitetl.  Motion  connected 
with  i»h«;noinena  cannot  Ihj  elenmi.  for  the  ph^noniona  them- 
selves are  Ininsient  und  dependent.  l»rofeH«or  Huxley  liu 
well  said  :  "  The  very  natiiro  of  the  phenomena  demonstrates 
that  they  must  have  had' a  beKinning,  anil  that  they  mut^  have 
an  end."*  Every  change  that  Ih  observe*!  in  a  body  is  caused  by 
Honiethinj»exteri.«r  to  itself. 

;l     E'tch  vurt  of  the    vuith'inL  univerM   nhewn  iUelf  to 
hiweltein  an  epct.  ami  viimt  tUertfore  owe  iU  existence  to  a 

caune  outside  iff  ittdf. 

The  Atheist  cannot  point  to  a  single  object  in  physical  na- 
ture wliicli  does  not  Iwar  uinm  it  the  marks  -»f  living  Ikjcu 
caused  by  some  power  exJerior  to  itself.  $uni»  and  stars,  and 
ti-eesand  flow' rs.  and  rolling  waters,  the  violent  tornado  and 
the  soft,  gentle  zephyr,  the  thunderstorm  ami  the  dew-drop,  the 
pebblestone  on  the  sen  beach  and  the  mightiest  range  of  moun- 
tains on  the  earth,  the  colossal  mammoth  and  the  tiny  animal- 
cule that  disports  itself  in  a  drop  of  water,  all  cry  on C,*  "Not  in  . 
me  will  you  find  the  cause"  of  existence"  No  ;  materiar.  natui  e 
is  simply  ^  series  of  effects— nothing  more.  Even  man  himself, 
the  liighest  of  all  created  things,  feels  tliat  he  owes  his  existence 
to  somewhat  or  to«omc  one  higher  than  himself.  It  has  been 
well  said  by  one  :  "We  iirefno*'  sufficient  of  ourselves— not  self- 
originated,  nor  self-sustained.  A  few  yearsagoand  we  were  not ; 
a  few  years  hence^and  our  bodies  shall  not  be.  A  mystery  is 
gathered  about  our  little  life.  We  have  mi  small  conti-ol  over 
things  around  us ;  we  are  limiu»d  and  hemmed  in  on  all  sides. 
Our  schemes  fail,  our  plans  miscarry.  One  after  another  our 
lights  gA  out.  Our  realities  prove  dreams.  Our  hopes  waste 
away.  We  are  not  where  we  would  W,  nor  what  we  would  W. 
We  find  that  it  is  not  in  man  that  walketh  to  direct  his  steps. 
We  find  our  circumference  ^-^ry  iiear  the  centre,  everywhere. 
And  we  feel  an  irresistible  tendency  to  refer  all  things,  ourselves 
with  them.loa  jwwer  lieyoud  us,  sublime  and  mysterious,whicli 
we  cannot  measure,  nor  e\^  comprehend."  Where,  then,  is  the 
cause  of  alt  things^  ourselves  m<?luded?      It  cannot  be  found  in 

*lay  Sennoas:^  17. 
''■■':-f  ■  :-  ■  r :  ':■■■■,•-       ■'■  ■     ■  ■■■  ■■••,■.      ■, .  ■-  "  ■■/■•  .:. 


J^ 


"'^ff'JT''**'' 


material  nature,  for  no  part  of  the  universe  could  cause  itself, 
much  less  souiethin;;  besides  itself.  Everj  individual  thing  that 
we  see,  declares  itself  to  t)e  an  effect.  Where,  then,  and  what, 
is  the  cause  ?  This  is  the  question  whieh  no  Athsist  can 
answer — the  problem  before  which  Materialistic  science  bows 
its  head  abashed.  Atht;i8ni  and  its  twin  sister  Agnosticism 
hang  up  a  curtain  hei-e,  and  exclaim,  "  We  don't  know  what  is 
inside ',"  while  in  truth  our  own  consciousness  extends  both 
within  and  without.  Mr.  John  Stuart  Mill,*  while  admitting 
that  the  material  universe  is  continually  changing  in  all  its 
parts,  and  that  whatever  clianges  must  be  an  effect,  yet  thinks 
that  there  is  a  permanent  element  in  Nature,  which  does  not 
change;  and  may  be- therefore  the  cause.  But  what  is  this  per» 
mancnt  element  ?  You  will  perhaps  be  surprised  to  hear  that  it 
•is  Force.  How  this  statement  can  help  the  Athuist  out  of  the 
difficulty  of  his  position,  one  fails  to  see.  For  Force  is  not  mut- 
ter, nor  an  attribute  of  matter — nor,  in  fact,  of  matter  in  any 
sense  of  the  word,  as  I  will  presently  shew.  The  permanency 
of  Force,  therefore,  but  proves  the  permanency  of  mind,  and  that 
in  mind,  and  mind  alone,  can  an  efficient  cause  of  material 
things  be  foubd.  All  matter  is  an  eflfect,  whose  cause  must  be 
other  than  material :  and  this  cause  is  God. 

Atheists  are  constantly  babbling  of  Nature,  as  though  by 
use  of  a  word-^which  they  often  employ  in  a  .very  loose  und 
vague  sense — they  got  rid  of  all  difficulty  in  connection  with 
this  question.  What  is  meant  by  Nature  ?  Unless  we  have  a 
clear  and  definite  meaning  in  our  minds  that  we  attach  to  this 
word,  its  use  is  not  likely  to  help  us  much.  The  term  Nature, 
it  seems  to  me,  is  very  often  used  in  a  most  ambiguous  sense, 
even  by  scientific  men.  At  one  time  it  is  employed  to  denote 
the  totality  of  all  existence  ;  at  another,  to  describe  the  causto 
or  conditions  of  things;  at  another,  the  re  ations  of  phenomena ; 
and  eomotimes  all  these  Collectively.  Such  use  of  language  is 
likely  to  land  us  in  inextricable  confusion.  According  to  the 
derivation  of  the  word  Nature  (2fatura— Hcuksitur),  it  means 
that  which  is  born  or  produced — in  point  of  fact,  the  becoming. 
-      *Vid:  Essay  on  Theism.  '    ■ 


-»' 


'.•*Lsi-#^^;j..v*,  v-n^'    /      .'    T'fe*&«fei6£ii 


'   '  .  ■  ■   [ 

ty'^     -•!'       . 

■        !        ■ 

r  ,    •       •  -^ 

'.."  ■ '. . 

»  .    .  • . 

5  *■  '■  ■". 

*'  '-'•  ■:     ■■■  .  ,' 

f     ,    .:■ 

/   ;    '     -■ 

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►,i       •      ...... 

*     - 

■•«■ 

r.  4, 


?.' 


■■«  . 


In  thia  iien«e.  th«refore.  it  \in»\  a  l»e^inning  utifl  will  hav«  an  ond. 
It  is  solely  phenomenal,  and  conse<|uenilx  itN  cause  must  im 
Bought  for  out«i<!e  of  itself.  That  what  l)ecome8  or  begins  to  Ikj, 
c•^nnot  be  the  cause  of  itself,  but  must  be  a  conse<|uenoe  of 
antecwlent  conditions.  Nature  therefore,  us  the  suiu-total  ot  ^ 
phenomena,  is  an  effect,  and  a»  such*  requires  a  cause.  An«l 
herea}<ain  we  are  driven  to  souiothtng  liey*md  Nature.  ,  There 
can  be  no  phenomena— und  Nutfire  (Consists  simply  of  phenom- 
ena  without  change,  no  cliHiige   without    motion,  no  motion 

without  force,  and  no  force  without  riiind  as  will  lie  seen  here- 
after. Thus  we  arc  ie«l  by' various  lines  of  tliought  to  the  same 
conchision.  "  None  of  the  proceMj|pk)f  Nature,"  says  o^ie  of  the 
most  eminent  sciontitic  men  ofiWw  sge,  "  since  tlie  time  when 
Natui*  Ijegan.have  produced  the  .sliglilest  difference  in  thc-i)io)>er- 
tjes  of  any  molecule.  We  ar»,  therefore,  unable  to  ascril»e  either 
th.e  existence  of  the  jiiolecules  or  the  identity  of  their  properties 
to  I  he  operation  of  any  of  the  causes  which  we  call  natural. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  exact  quidity  of  each  molecule  to  all 
o^briH  of  the  same  kind  givies  it,  lis  Sir  John  Herschel  bus  well 
satii,  the  essential  chara2ler  of  a  manufaclured  article^  and  pre- 
cludes the  idea  of  its  being  eti-rnaj  and  self -existen^||rii||ft  «;e 
have  been  |ed.  along  a  strictly  »c||jPtific  path,  verv 
point  at  which  science  must  stop.  Not  thiyt  Scieiu  ^^ 
from  studying  the  external  mechanism  of  ^  molecule  which  she 
canXl^t  ^al^e  to  pieces,  any  iriore  than  fr(^nj  investigating  an 
^''^^^Ikv^^'^''^^'^  cannot  put  together.  Ifut,  iji  tracing  back 
the  %^Hh|^  |^%|ler.  Science  is  arrested  when  she  assures 
ht>rfu^ff^H^^^0^atiA.  x$^i  the  molecule  Ikis  beei^  made,  and 
on  lhe^^B|b^t:  has  jfe^U^n  iiiade  by  any  of  the  proces.ses 
we!  calHttMu^.  •  Thua^ature  is  an  effect,  a  phenomenon,  a 
manufactured  article;  in  other  words,  a  creation.  And  her 
(Jausettnd  Creator  is liod. 

V.    Thekb  mukt^Hk  a  FiKsT  Cau.se,  an  UxcauhedCAusb. 

The  idea  oreausation— ^aiid  it  is  a  mental   impossibility  to 
escape  from  it— if  followed  out  niu.st  lejid  inevitably  to  G(k1. 

*Professor  Clerk  Maxwell :    President's  Address,  British  Association, 


-X — -^^ — — 


J. 


> 


''XX^ 


n 


''k 


H 


■4 


,  t  ^r 


w 


^Wt  trace  ftccurately  the  nexus   between  ceuee  mid 

ct  wl^iout  ending  in  «  first  cause,  that  is  sii  uncausetl  cause. 

xvhich  W.18  not  an  effect     This  in  truth  is  the  idea  thst 

if  necessarily  involved  in  cunsation  ami  any  other  view  would 
'"  iivolve  the  denial  of  ciuisation  alioKether.     It  has   lieen   Homo- 
tiinort  suggested  that  there  might  be  an  in6nite  series  of  causes 
and  effects.     But  that  is  almurd.  for  it  8up|K)8e8  an   ininite 
chain  iua«le  up  of  flnite  links  which  is  an  impossibility.     And 
HiH'li  a  Hcrijjs  of  cau<eH  an«l  effects  is  utterly   inconceivable,  be- 
cause, in  that  case,  there  would  bo  no  true  cause  nt  all.     Wol- 
biMtoii  ad.»*|it€d  an  iiluHlratiou,  which  puts  thin  in  u  very  cl«»r 
lijht     Suppose  an  infinite  numVwr  of  links  in  a  chain  »UR|)en«l- 
edfnmitVsky.     The  question  immediately  occui-s—lVy   wlutt- 
power  is  this  chain  held  up?     Antl  to  say  that  each  lin  <  sup- 
IHirts  the  other  will- not  satisfy   the  re«iuiremenla  of  the  mind. 
Iwcause  we  shall  want  to  know  what  supports  the  wholes  ch»fin# 
Thia|deuiand  Hows  naturally  from  the  laws  of  thauglit,  and  th« , 
•luestion  that  it  asks  nwst  be  answered.    The  true  idea  of  a 
cause,  as  it  shapes  itself  in  the  human  mind  is,  as  Dr.  Clarke  has 
ably  shown  :     First,  that  it  pauses  s«>mething  else ;  and,  second. 


'« 


that  it  is  itself  tincause<l.     In  a  series  of  causes  and  effects,  any 


"one  may  be  a  provisional  cau8e^but  not  a  real  one.  In  follow- 
inu  out  this  process  «f  thought,  we  must  necessarily,  in  the  end» 
reach  an  uncaused  cause,  and  this  must  be  capable  of  producing 
the  various  effects  which  we  observe.     Nqw,  w<i  all  knaw  this 

must  be  discovered  in  a  self -existent  Bemg  or  nowhere.  Even 
Herbert  Spettcer.  the  Corypheus  of  nuxlern  sceptical  philosophy, 
admits  that  the  doctrine  of  causation  lea«l8  to  a  first  cause.  In 
his  "  FiiTjt  Principles"  he  renmrks:  "  We  cannot  think  at  all 
about  the  iuipressionB  which  the  external  world  produces  on  ns 
without  thinking  of  tlwm  as  caused;  and  we  cannot  carry  out 
an  inquiry  concerning  their  causation  without  inevitably  com- 
mitting ourselves  to  the  hypothesis  of  a  first  cause."* 

VI-  The  Force  Behind  Nature  Ori(;inatk8  in^  Mind. 

%       Motion  is  now  held  to  be  caused  by  force,  and  all  the  mani- 
festations of  force  in  the  material  universe  arej   resolvable  into 


*' 


%■.■■ 


■/■■■■ 

p .   "  • 

.  ?  '             .     ' '    ■ 

•-(^ 

*Ught  in  the  Cloud,  by  the  sanie  author,  pp.  la 

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{'" 

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A 

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rs 
23 


•Mh  other.     Light,  h<«t,  electricity,  megnctiam.  etc— which 
were  at  one  time  •uppoeed  to  be  entities,  end  celled    impondor- 
eble  bodiea.  from  the  fact  that  they  were  not  eubject   to  gravit- 
etion.  and  could  not.  therefore,  be  weighed— ore  now  recognised 
as  modes  of  motion,  that  is,  forms  of  force.     There  are  no  such 
.     things  as  light  and  heat    There  is  no  electric  fluid,  although 
men  still  talk  about  it  and  write  about  it  as   though  it  had  an 
actual  existence.    All  theae  phenomena  consist  of  forms  of  force 
andean  be  converted  each  one  into  the  other.     But  what  then 
we  nsk  is  the  thing  called  force  ?    Motion  ifl^  condition  of  mat- 
tec,  we  are  told.    Yes.  but  how  did  it  beoome  conditioned  and 
what  conditioned  it  ?    Force  and,  motion  are  perfectly  distinct 
Take  an  illustration   which  I   have  given   elsewhere.*    A  b«I 
lying  on  the  ground  is  set  in  motion.     Now  what   has  happen- 
ed  ?    Motion  has  been  imparted  to  that  which  was  before  at  rest. 
It  is  the  same  ball  in  an  altered  condition.    Nothing  has  beeii 
added  by  the  movement  and  nothing  taken  away.    The  motion 
aiinply  implies  that  the  ball  has  changed  its  place.     But  some- 
thing must  have  operated  to  cause  the  motion,  or  the  rest  had 
never  l,een  interrupted.     That  something  we  call  force.     Force 
then  is  known  to  us  as  the  ability  to  produce  certain  changes 
io   matter.     It  is  the  name  given   to  that  which   originates 
motion,  or  changes  the  sute  of  a  body  with  regard  to  motion 
•      It  can  hardly  be  necessary  for  me  here  to  enlaige  upon  the 
doctrine  of  the  Unity  of  Eorce  and  the  Conservation  of  Energy 
which  modern   science  has  brought  so  conspicuously   to-  the 
front,  since  no  one  who  knows  anything  of  science  will  have  the 
temerity  to  dispute  it.    Kach  mode  of  motion  can  be  converted 
into  the  other,  heat  into  light,  electricity  into  magnetism  and 
all  into  momentum.    This  is  not  theory,  but  demonstrable  fact. 
In  order  to  make  the  matter  more  clear,  however,  I  may  give  a 
«mple  illustration  as  detailed  itf  the  Lecture  Notes  of  Dr  Meyer 
He  says ;  ••  The  heat  de^Ioped  by  the  '  falling  force '  of  a  weight 
stnking  the  terminals  of  a  compound  thermal  battery  (formed 
by  pieces  of  iron  and  Gennan  silver  wire  twisted  together  at     ' 
Alternate  ends)  caused  a  current  of  electricity  through  the  wire. 
•Baseless  Fabric  of  Scientific  Scepticism,  p.  laa. 


^* 


.-^ 


W^  ,  ■     '  ^1 


.  Tff^^i 


wlilch,  being  conducted  through  a  helix,   magnetised  a  needle 
(which  then  attracte<l  iron  i»articlc8)    caused  light  to  appear  in 
a  portion  of  the  circuit  formed  of  Wollaston's  fine  wire,  decoro- 
pMed  iodide  of  potassiuni,  and  finally  moved   the  needles  of  a 
galvanometer."     Here  then,  we  have  kinetic  energy  converted 
into  heat ;  then   absorbed   heat  transformed  into   electricity ; 
that  attain  converted  into  magnetism,  light  and  chemical  force  ; 
and  so  on.     All  the  fornw  of  energy  or  modes  of  motion  are  thus 
reducible  to   unity— in   fact,  to  one  force.     "  Electricity   and 
magnetism,  heat  an<l  light,  muscular  pnergy  and  chemical  action, 
motion  and   mechanical  work,  are  only  different  tonns  of  one' 
ami  th»*  same  power.     •     •     Moreover,  chemical  union  of  the 
elements  of  matter,  the  attraction   of  gravitation    in  all   the* 
bpdiea  of  the   universe,  are  but  varied  forms  of   this  universal 
motiyfe^  force."    (ZM  Cokn).    Now.  the  question  timt  arises  is, 
what  is  the  origin  of  this  one  Force  ?    From  what  source  does  it 
spring  ?    There  is  but  one  answer.     It  owes  its  origin  to  mind. 
In  hum  in  experience  force   invariably  springs  from  volition. 
The  intermediate  agents  between  Ihe  will  and  the  last  thing 
observed  to  move  may  be  numerous ;  but  this  in  no  case  altera 
the  fact  that,   tracing  the  links  of  the  chain  upwards  to  its 
origin,  we,  come  in   the  end  upon  volition.     Dr.  Carpenter  — 
who  certainly  had  no  bias  in  favour  of  Christianity— remarks  : 
"Force  must  be  regarded  as  the  direct  expression  of  that  mental 
Btate  which   we  call   Will.    All.force   is  of  wnv.  type,  and  that 
type  is  luiiid."*     And  the  same  view  is  advanced  by  Herschell, 
Wallace.  Laycock,  Muiphy.  and  many  other  of  the  leaders  of 
scientific  thought      Even   Herbert  Spencer^who  is  usually 
claimed  by/A^theists  or  Agnostics  as  belonging  to  their  school 
^— is  compelled  to  concede  almost  all  that  I  am  here  contending 
ftir.    He  says:    "The  force  by  which  we  ourselves  produce 
changes,  and  which  serves  to  symbolise  the  cause  of  changes  in 
general,  is  the   final  disclosure  of  analysis."f    Force,  therefore, 
is  of  mind,  not  of  matter.     Itisau  expression  of  Will,  and  an 
attribute  of  spiritj    We  are  driven,  consequently,  by  the  irre- 

Igw'PS.PhyMology,  p.  54a, 
-     tfr!?*  Principles,  p.  235. 
.     tVide  Appendix  0. 


'  i;' 


'"■^'V.'' 


.#; 


I  ^;^v^'^  ■•a 


Sf 


>.    "■ 


.r 


•iatible  force  of  logic,  to  the  oonolution— Che  on'y    niiioiia}  oiie 
— fchtfc  the  mind,  which  is  the  caiue  of  all  motion  in  the  varied 
phenomena  of  the  piu^sical  universe,  is  the  ever  present   God. 
Motion  cannot,  per  S.  produce  motion.     It  is  a   fundamenul 
axiom  in  physics  that  motion  cannot  be  generated  by  motion 
itself,   but  only  by  force.     Inertness  and  energy,  activity  and 
passivity  are  contradictory  attributes,  and  cannot,  therefore,  be 
affirmed  of  the  same  thing.    Any  one  who  says  that  matter  is 
inert,  and  yet  at   the  same  time  maintains   that  it  can  exert.  4H1 
f6roe.ime8  words  without  meaning,  and,  consequently,   Ull^^^l 
nonsense.     Herbert  Spencer  remarns:  "  Force  is  the   ultimat£'-^     ' 
of  ultimates.     Matter  and  motion  are  differently  conditioned 
manifestations  of  Force.     And  Force  can  be  regarded  only   as 
a  certain  conditioned  effect  of  the  Unconditioned  Causo—as  the 
active  reality  indicating  to  us  an  Abeolute  tteality  by  which  it 
is  imtaediately  produced."*     Force,   therefore,  cannot  be  attri- 
bute of  matter,  for  it  moulds  and  fashions  matter.     It  is  higher 
than  any  material  existence.    The  entire  physical   universi  is 
under  tbe  control  of  Force,  ahd.  but  for   it.  must  sin     into  u 
state  of  torpor,  inactivity,  stagnation,  and  death,  or.  possibly 
even  cease  to  be.    Force,  therefore,  not  being  in  matter   must 
be  aought  for  in  mind  and  in  mind  alone.    Spirit   force' is  the 
only  force  possible  in  the  universe.     In  all  our  experience   we 
^ow  of  but  one  originator  of  force.  ]«rhich   is  volition.    A  hun- 
drad  illustrations  might  be  given  did  time  permit.    The  doctrine 
that  mmd  is  the  originator  of  motion  is  as  old  as  the   hills 
ffow /^I'ApXW  Kivn^its.  says  Anaxagoras.    And  all  modem 
science  18  tending  marvellously  in  the  direction  of  this  truth 
MoMon  transformed  in  multiform  ways,  and  transmitted  thiough 
a  thousand  media,  always  commences  in  mind  or  spirit     Dr 
Carpenter  observes:    " The  deep-seated  instincte  of  humanity' 
mind »!.?"!'  7?«hes  of  philosophy,  alike  point  to 
mind  -^  the  one  and  only  ^souit«  of  power."t    And  a  farw^ter 
i«iai,--Sir^ohn  HerseheU^marks.  "The  conception  of  ^ree 
4W  the  origimitor  of  motion  in  matter  without  bodily  contact,  or 

tNatuie  VI.,  J.  3ir 


'vi- 


4f^lJ^P- 


^.T«^/&fcr;«-^^ 


the  Intervention  of  any  inter  meiliinn,  is  eagentfal  to  the  righi 
interpretation  of  physical  phenomena,  •  •  its  exertion 
ma'«es  itwlf  manifest  to  our  personal  consciousness  by  the 
peculiar  sensation  of  effort,  *•  ■■*  and  it  Tforce]  affords  a 
point  of  contact,  a  connecting' link  between  the  two  great  de- 
partments of  being,  mind  ^d  matter— the  one  as  its  originator, 
and  the  other  us  its  recipient"*  All  the  various  forms  of 
energy  which  we  see  manifested  around  us  in  the  ten  thousand 
phenomena  of  nature  are  simply  so  many  transformations  of 
pne  force,  springing  from  the  one  source  of  power,  the  Divine 
■WUI.   ■ 

"  For  how  should  nature  occupy  a  charge, 
>  Dull,  as  it  is,  and  satisfy  a  law 

"^  ,1^^}      So  vast  in  its  demands,  unless  impelled 
To  ceaseless  service  by  a  ceaceless  force, 
And  under  pres!ture  of  some  conscious  cause  ? 
%i'  /   The  Lord  of  all,'himself  du-ough  all  diffused^ 

Sustains  and  is  the  life  of  all  that  lives. " 

VII.    The  Material  Uxiverse  Manifests  Thought  anit 

THEREFORE  MUST  BE  THE  WORK  OF  A  ThINKER. 

Now  mark,  that  which  is  not  the  result  of  thought  cannot 
be  translated  into  thought.  Take  a  book  in  your  hand,  open  It, 
and  you  see  at  once  the  orderly  arrangement  of  letters  into 
words,  and  of  .words,  into  sentences.  This  bespeaks  a  certaitt 
amount  of  thought  on  the  part  of  the  author,  and  on  the  part 
of  the  compositor  who  set  up  the  type.  By  no  stretch  of 
imagination  can  you  conceive  this  arrangement  to  be  the  re- 
sult of  chance  or  accident.  The  types  might  have  been  thrown 
down  at  random  ten  million  times,  and  they  never  would  have 
fallen  into  the  order  in  which  they  were  placed  in  the  printer's 
form  which  was  laid  on  the  machine  when  a  single  sheet  of  the 
volume  was  worked  off  The  book  in  question  may  not  be  a 
treatise  on  a  very  important  topic,  and  the  author  may.  have 
dealt  with  his  subject  very  imperfectly;  but  still  it  is  im- 
possible to  imagine  that  the  arrangement  can  be  other  than  the 
result  of  mind.  A  volume  of  Shakespeare,  of  Newton,  or  of 
Kant,  will  differ  greatly  from  an  elementary  school  book,  or 
'Familiar^Lectvres  of  Science,  p.  467. 


'J% 


#: 


•♦J*^ 


'J  > 


^:-m:, 


^  vv^iff^^S^R' 


1  ^^"' 


>x 


tWii- 


^-4; 


'±:iii 


,  fT" 


from  the  immature  prwluctioti  of  an  ignurant  ami  uninformed 
man ;  but  the  difference  will,  after  all;  be  one  of  degree  only  ; 
m  both  caM8  thought  must  have  been  at  work  to  produce  •' 
book  at  all.     Chance  is  incompetent  to  form  u  single  sentence 
to  say   utthing  of  writing  several  hundred   pages.     And   the 
amount  of  thought  contained  in  the  volume  will  be  the  measure 
of  what  can  be  exi meted  from  it.     In  other  words,  you  cannot 
get  more  thought  out  of  a  thing   than  hns  been    put   into   it 
You  may  get  out  less,  because  your  mind  may  be  incompetent 
to  grasp  all  the  meaning  of  the  author ;  and  in  that  case  you 
may  misunderstand  him  through  failing  to  reach  his  profundity 
But  whether  his  thoughts  be  deep  or  shallow,  there  will  be  no 
question  in  your  mind,  when  you  see  his  boo^  that  the  pre- 
sence  of  the  thinker  has  been  there.     Nbw,  if  thought  can  be 
V  extracted  from  the  material  universe— in  other  words   if  order 
P  and  harmony  can  br  detected-it  is  as  certain  that  mind   has 
.been  at  work  as  that  the  book  before   referred  to  was  produced 
by  an  mtelligent  being.    And  that  such  order  does  prevail    I 
tokeit.  no  one  will  deny.     For   what  is  all  our^  science  but  a 
reading  of  nature,  ^ith  a  view  to  discover  the  meaning  of  her 
ftjrcea  and  her  laws  ?    AH  investigatio^n  and  all  experiment  is 

^1  *".rf  rA*^  '*'**'™  '^'  '"^"^"«  ^'  '^'  mysterious  Un- 
guage  that  hks  been  so  deeply  engraven  on  her  multiform  pages. 
Again  and  again  has  Nature  bee»  most  uptly  comparedTa 
book.  an4  a  marvellous  volutne  it  is.  in  which  we  may  read- 

•     "  The  perfect  hand 
That  poised,  impels,  and  rules  die  whole." 

Xetme  givj  you  a  very  simple  illustration.    There  is  a 
painting,  say.  ^f  a  greilt  master.     So  perfect  a  work  of  art  is  it 
than  men  come  long  distances  toseeit.  and  all  wbogazeupo, 
It  are  charmed  and  delighted ;  and  leave  impressed  ^hTe 

tZsInH  •'"*"' ''^  ^^"'^'-    I^-'^l^'dscape.Tnd    he 
tn^and.flowersare  so  mitural  that  they  look  a.  ^h^iigh  you 
could  break  oflf  a  twig  or  a  leaf  and  cany  it  away  wwL^h 
catt  e  browsing  in  the  foregreund  seeH  tLj^^tl^t  W 
really  walk  out  of  the  framed  «  What  .  wonderfS  JnZ^y^ 


*?< 


•   ■*  I 


*   -  *'^.'»'rT«7r\''"^Ffr,%^^^ 


27 


'*.K 


,».^«V» 


excbim. "  the  man  had  who  painted  thai  picture."     But  yoa  did 

No  n>.t..r  .  «e  th*l  „„w  it  i.  fl„i.h«d  Z I  know  *CZ'o 
by  .  ».«ter  mind,  .„d  could  h.,.  com.  in  „„  other  way  W.ll 
70«  m  ngh..  B«t  remember  th.t  the  pict««  i.  .  LiJZ, 
.nd  therefore  .  copy.  Yonder  i,  the  origin.!,  from  whicrZ 
picture  ,„  Uken.  No,  you  „y  it  ^^^^  ^,^  ^  J^^  ^ 
copy,  whilst  theongin.!  «„,e  wiihouV.ny  mind  .t  lo.    Tth.! 

.y.tem  the  world  e.er  he«d  of.     But  w.  n.ve  not  don,  «UK 
the  picture  yet     After  .11  the  .mount  of  thought  put  intl  ^ 
U  bmited    Supple  you  -hould  pl«e  .  ,n.g„Vi„^  gCof 
high  power  on.bo«t  .  «,u.re  inch  of  the  b«kgJo„„d  of  the 
p.int,ng  wh.  would  you  «e  ?    Why.  nothing  b^t  ,rd.„l^  fo' 
you  woald  fml  to  t.ke  in  the  design  of  the  painter  .nd  for  thi 
r«t  the  p.int  would   be  destitute  of  order  or  harmly.      But 
pl«!e  under  the  mireroecope  .ny  portion  however  .m.11  of  the  ori- 
g,n.I.ndyou  wonid  incre«e  the  bcuty,  tor  God  h«.t.mped 
""Pff  »"  Ihe  >»<>»»  -inu^  part  u  well  „  „n  the  tout  W- 
«m6fe,of  the  whole.    Everywhere  in  the  i.niven»  we  we  order 
and  h.rmony  ,nd  where  theae  «xi,t  there  is  pl.p,  ^  „here 
there  u,  plan  there  i,  pnrpoae.  and  where  there  ia  purpose,  there 
«  thought,  .nd  where  there  ia  thought  there  ia  a  thinker 
^     And  ngbthere   the  Atheist  atepa  in  with  hi.  t  It.    i.     . 
Natu^l  Uw.  a,  though  that  expUini:  the  wtl  "thtng  " t 
what  I.  I.W  1    It  i.  but  .  word  often  used  in  .  „U  1<L  ll 
ambiguous  senae.    The  expression  ••  kw.  of  n.ta»  "  K 
glibly  on  the  lip.  of  those  who  hJi7v^^    '        «"  """' 
we<.S„eh  people  spesk  ^tl7^J:'T«'"''^ 
powers,  forees,  or  even  entities-  wherew  «...  ^     ^^   "*" 
than  ob«,rved  ordera  of  sequTn'ce"  T^  *'i  Z  """  ""•" 
entity,  neither  is  it .  pow^ ,  u  en  t  uothtHraLr  U 
B  Simply  the  mode  of  wjtion  of  .  force  that  I...  kl-  j  •         " 
.  ....  aud  hence  muat  not  ^  « W^ ^  th^  t::!: 


r 


r 


.   1 


*4 


hM; 


f»  '.1 


?*i^  - 


*    ■ 


•-^pi-'^^' 


/ 


/ 


.J 


\ 


««fMihl«  of  prmliioing  results.     Af  a  iiKMlern  poet  Hm  Mid.  «d. 
(IreMing  Deity —  .      . 

"The  lawt  of  Nature^ftre  but  Thine. 
'For  Nature  !  who  i«  «h*  ? 
'  A  name — the  name  that  men  aiaign 

V    4^4*         To  Thy  «Je  alchemy  r. 

The  more  wonHcrr.il  the  workings  of  Katural    Ijiw,  the  more 
••tounding  becumes   the  Power  which  lies  bebiod   the  \vfi.  by 
whoee  Volition  the   law  itself  was  called  intb  being.     As  his 
been  well  and  wtMly  said.  "  All  things — plants,  animals,  men  \ 
sun,  moon,  and  stars ;  even  storms,  comets,  meteors,  with  what- 
ever seems  most  emtic— fulfill  the  law  of  their  being.     This 
law  they  did  not  impose  on  themselves,   for  they  oinnot  repeal 
'Jt,  though  they  often  rebel  against  it :  it  is  imposed  on  them  by 
A  superior  power,  a  power  which  rewards  obedience  and  avenges 
disobedience.    Man,  for  instance,  is  obviously  under  a  law  of 
health,  ag«inst  which  he  often  sins,  but  which  he  cajamot  annul, 
however  painful  may  be  the  results  of  his  disobedience   to  that 
Taw.    And  so  throughout  the  natural  wofirld  we  find  a  law  inde« 
'  pendent  of  the  will  of  the  creature,  superior  to  them,  supreme 
over  them,  capable,  as    we  say,  .of    asserting   and    avenging 
itself.    Whence  does  this  law  come  ?  and  who  administers  it  ? 
For,  of  course,  no  |^  can  really  administer  or  assert  itself. 
There  n^ust  be  some  one  behind  and  above  the  law.    Law  is 
only  our  name  for  a  sequence,  fora  method  of  action,  for  a  right 
or  an  invariable  method.  ,  It  implies  the  existence  of  a  power, 
or  person,  whose  method  it  is,  ^those  will  it  exprf6se&    The 
laws  of  nature  can  no  more  administer  themselves  than  the  Uws 
of  the  land.    Justai^he  laws  of  the  land  imply  the  existence  of 
an  authority,  a  magistrate,  who  will  act  on  them  and  assert 
them,  so  the  laws  of  nature  l^eaf  witness  to  an  utiseen  force,  or 
pow^r^or  person,  who  imposes^  and  enforces  them,  rewarding 
those  who  obey,  punishing  those  who  violate  them.    This  power 
we  call  God."    Let  such  men  as  Matthew  Arnold  term  it  u 
*'  stream  of  tendency,  by  which  all  things  fulfil  the  law  of  their 
,being/'  itnd  thuH  lose  themselves  in   the  foga  that  their  own 


^i^»: 


f»'        "    «. 


.    .    ■''  •  •■r' 


k"S.T  ^f'f  into  exutance ;  we  prefer  to  keep  In  th«, 
bnght  MialHtht  of  clear  .dea..  ami  to  ,all  It  God.  A  .tream 
whether  of  tendency  or  of  anything  eUe.  n.uat  have  iu  oriirin' 
somewhere.  We  know  of  a«  ".tream"  which  doe.  not  flow 
fron.  a  .>ttrt«e.  And  the  only  *,urce  of  natund  law  in  the 
Divine  Uw-maker,  who  ia  at  once  the  originaU.r  and  the  od- 
mmiatrator  of  the  law. 

The  diaUnguiahing  characteristic  of  the   physical   univera* 
is  that  the  laws  by  which  it  is  governed  are  mathematical  rela- 
tioua.     CJraviutlon  is  a  numerical  law,  and  under  iU  influence 
the  curves  described  by  the  heavenly  bwliea  are  the  ellipse  circle 
parabola,  and  hyperlwla-tliat  is.  they  all  belong  to  the  class  of 
curves  called  conic  sections,  the  properties  of  which  «K5cupied  the 
great  mind  of  PUto  thousands  of  years  before  Newton  demon- 
strated  that  whatever  was  true  of  them  might  be  transferred  to 
the  heavenly  bodiea     Many  of  the  geometer's  a  priori  laws 
were  first  sugg^ted  by   natural  forma;  and  others,  as  Euclid'a 
.division  in  extreme  and  mean  ratio,  were  afterwards  discovered 
to  be  embodied  in  the  universe.     I  have  not  time  here,  nor  is  it 
necessary,  to  explain  these  laws.    They  dre  known  to  every 
mathematician.     Suffice  it  to  say  that  natural  symmetry  leads 
us  to  investigate,  first,  the  mathematical  law  which  it  embodies, 
and    then    the    mechanical  law   which    embodies  it.      Thuf 
all  the  benefits  that  the  race  has  derived  from  the  pursuit 
and  discovery  of  physical  science  have  come  to  ua  through  the 
suggestions  of  geometrical  thoughts  in  the  universe.    "  Now,  all 
regularity  of  form,"  says  a  modern  writer,  "  is  as  truly  an  ex- 
pression of  thought  as  a  geometrical  diagram  can  be.    The  par- 
ticles of  matter  uke  their  form  in  obedience  to  a  force  which  is 
acting  according  to  an  intellectual  law,  imposing  conditions  on 
Its  exercise.    It  does  not  alter  the  reajity  of  this  ultimate  de- 
pendence of  symmetry  upon  thought,  simply  to  introduce  a 
chain  of  secondary  causes,  between  the  originat  thinking  and 
the  final  expression  of  the  thought."    A  geometrical  figure 
whether  drawn  by  a  piece  of  chalk  upon  a  black  board,  or  en,' 
graved  on  a  block  of  wood  and  printed  in  a  book,  or  making  . 
Itself  apparent  iti  natural  phenomena,  presents  in  the  one  case 


¥,■■ 


^■t 


X 


I'M^ 


*»^- 


'**' 


>»# 


80 

jM  in  the  other*  inoontrovertible  evidence  thai  «  geometer  ha* 
hj  thia  meent  expreMed  a  gvometrical  thought. 

All  natural  forma  couform  mora  or  leee  doiely  to  geonie- 
fcrinal  ideals.     Thi«  is  the  com  alike  ia  planete  and  eryaUla.  in 
arUinaU  and  plant".     Nature,  therefore,  mayVe  looktMl  upon  as 
made  up  of  a  series  of  drawings  and   modelX  by    which   the 
■oience  of  mathematics  may  be  taaght  in  theVhool  of  life. 
The  inference  is  irresistible  that  an  intelligent  mmd  has   been 
•t  work  on  the  grandest  and  most  magnifi(»nt  scale  conceiv- 
al^e.     IVofessor  Flint  well  remarks:    "Could  mere  matter  know 
th«  absirusest  properties  of  space  and  time  and  number,  so  aa 
to  obey  them  in  the  wondrous  way  it  does  ?    Could  what   has 
taken  ho  much  mathematical  knowledge   an<l  research  to  ap- 
prehend have  originated  with  what  was  wholly'  ignorant  of  all 
quantitative  relations  /    Or  must  not  the  order  of  t^  universe 
be  due  to  a  mind  whose  thoughts  as  to  these  gelations  are   high 
above  even  those  of  the  profoundest  mathematicians,  as  are  the 
.    heavens  above  the  earth  I    If  the  universe  were  created   by  an 
intelligence  conversant ,  with  quantitative   truth,  it  is  easy  id 
'    underetendwhy  it  should  be  ruiea  by  definitely  quantitative 
towi;  but  that  there  should  be. such  Uwsin  a  universe  which 
did  not  originate  in  intelligeptse  .is  not  only   inexpfioable  but 
inconceivably  improbable.    There  is  not  merely  in  that  case  no 
discoverable  reason  why  there  should  be  any  numerically  de- 
finite law  in  nature,  but  the  probability  of  there  being  no  law 
or  numerical  regularity  of  any  kind  is  exceedingly  great,  and  of 
there  being  no  law-governed  universe  incalculably  great     Apart 
from  the  supposition  of  a  Supreme  intelligence,  the  chances  in  . 
ftivour  of  disorder  against  order,  of  chaos  sgainst  coemoa^  of  the 
numerically  indefinite  and  inconstant  against  the  definite  and 
constant,  niusrbe  pronoimced  all  but  infinite.    The  belief  in  a 
Divine  Beaspifirf alone  capable  of  rendering  rational   the  fact 
that  mathematical  truths  are  realised  in  the  materUl  world."* 

Did  time  permit,  we  might  go  through  the  various  branches 
of  natural  knowledge,  and  show  that  whatever  part  of  the  uni- 
vtnewe  gaze  upon,  w6  must  everywhere  confront  order  and 


/ 


-'*'- 


81 

harmony  Ev«n  Mr.  Darwin-who-  ih«ory  of  N.t«r«l  Selec- 
t.on ,.  looked  upon  hjr  many  „  a  .hort  ^i\  «u,y  meih^xl  for 
pu.h,ng  G,Ml  out  of  Hi.  own  univerwi-i.  co.np«U«d  U.  um 
l«n«u«Ke  that  implie.  purp<me  and  plan  In  Nature.  "Coolri. 
vnnce  ita  tarmtliat  <iccuri.  «c..re.  of  timi-ii  in  liix  writlnm. 
But  a-aumlly  there  cm  be  no  conlrivonce  without-  a  contriver. 

•  'II       '  '***'   ^^^^  '"*'"'  "«P«r«c»*»  thinker  cannot  fail  to 
aee     Then,  in  hu  volume  on  "  The  Kertilimition  of  OrohiiU  "  he 
•ayi :  "  The  Ltbellum  i»  tlevcloped  into  a  long  nectary,  in  order 
to  attract  Lepidojytera ;  and  we  ahall  preiiei^ly  give  rea-on.  for 
•u«peeting  that  the  nectnr  ix  purposely  m  hniged  that  it  can  be 
•ucked  out  slowly,  in  <ynUr  to  give  time  for  the  curious  chenii- 
cal  (juality  of  the  viacid  matter  sotting  hai<l  and  dry  "•     What 
is  this  but   pkn  and  purpose  on    the  |«rt  of  some  iJesrgning 
mind  T    Of  one  particular  structure  he  says :  "  This  conlrivanee 
of  the  guiding  ridges  may  be  Wimpared  to  the  little  instrument 
sometimes  used  for  guiding  a  thread  into  the  eye  of  a  needk" 
AsHure.lly  this  contrivance  implies  a  contriver    The  notion  ' 
that  every  organ  has  a  purine  or  use  he  admits  to  have   been 
most  valuable  to  him  in  his  8tu4ieB,  and  to  have  enabled  him  to 
•ucceed  in  his  discoveries.     •^The  strange  position   of  the  Za- 
^ium."  he  remarks.   "i)erchedon   the  summit  of  the  column 
ought  to  have  shown  me  that  here  was  the  place  for  experiment 
I  ought  to  have  scorned  the  notion   that  tfie  Liibellum  was  thus 
placed  for  no  good  purpose.     I  neglected  this  plftin  guide,  and 
for  a  long  time  completely  failed  to  understand  the  flower."t 
What  is  all  this^  but  an  admission,  however  reluctantly  given, 
that  a  directing  mind  lies  behind  natural  phenomena?    Let 
any  one  try  to  explain  this  language  upon  any  other  principle 
Can  we  wonder,  then,  that  John  Stuart  Mill,  with  all  his  Scep- 
ticism, should  be  compelled  to  admit  that  "  the  adaptations  of 
Nature  affords  a  large  balance  of  probability  in  favor  of  crea- 
tion  by  intelligence.":    Well,  a  large  balance  of  probability  is, 
at  least,  something  in  our  favour,  if  nothing  more  could  be  said  „ 

^Fertilisation  of  Orchids,  p.  29. 

flbid,  p.  262. 

tEaaaiy  on  Theisin,  p.  174. 


\ 


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) 


•  .  r»' 


',%    -f. 


sa 


'A  t' ' 


\A. 


In  t  world  irli«r«  •»  much  uoeertninly  praviila  "  •  Urfn  hftl«iioe 
of  prob«bililx  "  thould  bfi  a  tolerably  ooiiclu«tye  guide     Hut  w« 
BuiaUiu  that  w«  havt  much  more  IIimi  "ftkift'lMiUiuw  ol 
probaUlit J "   fin    our  aide.      Lord     Kvlvin — §cit>ntif{cml\f   • 
fur  trMt«r  man  than  Mr.  Mill,  and,  therefore,  n  much  b«tt«r   « 
jndgv  of  thia  question— remark* :  "  Overpowering  proof  of  ip-  \i 
4«l||pnoe   and  benevolent  deei|;rn  liea  around  ua ;  and  if  ever^iait 
perplex itien,  .whether   metaphysical  or  iictentifk.   turn  ua  awajr  .„« 
from  them  for  a  time,  they  come  back  upon  ua  with  irresiatible 
fome,  showing  to  ua  through  nature  the  influenoe  of  a  free  will, 
and  leaching  ua  that  all  living  beinga  depend  upon  the*9ver> 
•etiog  Creator  and  Ruler."*    T^ia  haa  been' my  own  experience, 
and  it  haa  lieen  that  of  other  men  whoae  minda  for  .<|itnie  have 
been  beclouded  by  doubta,  but   who  by  and  by  have  lottn^  their 
way  into  the  full  sunlight  of  Chriat'a  truth. 

Ten  thoufland  instaucea  could  lie  given,  aelectod  from  evei^ 
brench  of  knowledge,  of  the  purpose  and  plan  that  pervadea>tM-' 
/         univerae;  but  my  object  is  not  so  much  to  quote  large  numbera 
of  facta  aatoreaaon   upon  a  few  that  no  one  ever  attempts   to 
dispute.    Now,  if  the  existence  of  a  Designing  mind  be  got  rid 
of  from  the   universe,  we  are  driven  to  the  absurdity  of  sup- 
posing that  all  the  order  and  harmony  that  exists  in    nature  is 
the  result  of  accident,  or,  as  it  has  lieen  fitly  termed,  the  fortui* 
tons  concourse  of  atoma     I  am  well  aware  that   Atheistic  phil- 
osophers object  strongly  to  the  word  chance.    Yet  how  are  we 
to  get  rid  of  it  if  there  be  no  purpose — no  plan  7    The  cause  of 
the  present  state  of  things  must  resolve  itself  into  chance,  after 
all,  call  it  by  what  name  you  will     Everything  that  does  not 
occrfr  by  design   must  be  the  result  of  accident     There   is  no 
.  other  alternative.     Not  that  it  is   to  be  wondered  at   that  the 
.    very  ugly  and  very   unphilosophical  word  chance,  should  be 
the  objected  to ;   but  then  theory  with  which  it  is  indissolubly 
associated  should  ^so  be  renounced.     If  the  arrangement  that  we 
see  in  the  universe  be  not  the  result  of  plan  on  the  part  of  some    ■ 
mind,  it  must  have   come  by  chance,  and  in  no  other  way. 
i(lii|^  Things  might  just  us  well  have  settled  into  some  other  shape  as 
a'         'Address  to  the  British  Association,  1871. 


i  ) 

V;.^.- 


u 


II 

iUl  in  which  we  now  HimI  tli«m  And  th«  ehmntm  wn  grMl* 
ly  ia  kfor  of  th«ir  doinK  to.  Th«  prolmbility  tnnat  have  been 
» IfW^  egainet  the  preMnt  arninK«ment  m  to  r«nd«r  it  nexl  to 
impaeaible.  For  the  order  that  we  tee  rtpeate  tteelf  contiQiiaUj 
«nd  regulftrly,  which  erente  reettltinff  from  cheoc««  never  da 
On  the  contrary,  when  en  ecciilenl  tume  up  once,  the  fact  iteelf 
it  e  reeeon  for  ue  not  to  expect  it  ef^ain  for  «  long  time.  When. 
•rer  e  particuUr  reeult  oociini  frequently,  we  elweyt  conclude 
that  mind  miut  liave  had  something  to  do  with  the  arrange- 
ment Ul  ihrM  dice  be  thrown  up  into  the  air  at  haphazard, 
and  itia  quite  poaaible.  but  highly  improbable,  that  they  ahould 
^1  fall  witl^  the  aix  spota  appermoat.  Rut  auppoae  the  experi- 
nent  repeated  a  hundred  timee.  and  alwaya  with  the  tame  re- 
•ult.  there  ia  no  man  onlaide  a  LiAiatic  Aaylunf  who  would  not 
at  once  conclude  that  the  dice  were  loaded.  Tlie  oaae  ia  pi«. 
ciaely  similar  to  that  we  aee  in  Nature,  only  that  the  latter  ia  a 
thousand  times  the  atronger  of  the  two  Kepler  relates  that 
onu^day.  when  he  had  long  been  meditoting  upon  atonia  and  the 
Uin  by  which  they  were  governed,  he  was  oAlled  to  dinner. 
There  was  a  aalad  on  the  table,  and  he  aaid  to  his  wife,  who  had 
prepared  it :  "  Dost  thou  think  that  if  from  the  creation  plates 
of  tin,  leaves  of  lettuce,  grains  of  salt,  drops  of  oil  and  viuegar, 
and  fragments  of  hard-boiled  eggs,  were  floating  in  apace,  in  all 
directions  and  without  order,  chance  could  aasemble  them  to^ 
day  to  form  a  salsd  f "  His  spouse  replied,  perhaps  without 
seeing  the  joke,  but  yet  very  much  to  the  purpose :  "  Certainly 
not  so  good  a  one,  nor  so  well  seasoned  as  this."*  Now  take 
the  case  of  the  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies ;  and  it  is  but 
one  instance  of  thousands  that  qiight  be  jjc^ven.  The  la  to  Pro- 
fessor de  Morgan  demonstrated  that,  when  only  eleven  planets 
were  known,  the  odds  against  chance— to  which  in  such  a  case 
intelligence  is  the  only  alternative— being  the  cause  of  all  these 
bodies  moving  in  one  direction  round  the  aun,  with  an  incon- 
siderable inclination  of  the  pianea  of  their  orbits,  were  twenty 
thousand  millions  to  one.    "  What  prospect,"  are  his  own  words 


|l 


■*^' 


•frMOMK 


!  w'4*t  is^r?  #is^  '^\.^. 


■  i^-m^ 


*  wookl  lhAft  h«v«  hmn  of  inch  a  eoomiirmmet  ol  eireanutaiuMt 
II  «  tUl«  of  chaiK»  fuMl  imiu  lh«  cmljr  »al«ord«at  f  Wtth  reictni 
Ui  the  iiatu«n«H  uf  th«  dirvciMiia.  tiUi«i  of  which  tnif(ht  hAv« 
bMii  from  w«a4  to  Mti.  orfroiA  «til  to  wwl.  Um  otM  ia  p«««iMlf 
liiutUr  to  the  followiaff :  Thar*  It  tk  JMAary  oonlainiiig  bUdc 
•ad  mtAu  bUU.  from  Moh  drnwlng  of  whioh  il  it  m  liktly  a 
blfiek  ball  thall  uriM  tt  t  .vbilt  om  :  wha  It  Iht  ohanet  ol 
(IniwitiK  elflvftn  ball*  all  whila  t— antwar,  2,047  to  1  affaiiuil  ii 
With  regani  to  thn  othar  ((uaation.  our  |)oaition  la  thia :  Tharo 
la  a  lottery  containing  an  tntinita  number  of  onunlflra.  tuarked 
with  all  poaaibla  difTarent  angloa  lata  than  a  ri|^t  mir1«.  in  atioh 
a  manner  that  any  angle  is  as  likely  to  be  drawn  as  another,  to 
that  in  ten.  drawings  the  mm  of  the  anglea  drawn  may  be  any- 
thing under  tan  right  anglea;  now,  what  it  t|ie  chance  of  ten 
drawingN  giving  collectively  leas  than  one  right  angl«  ? — an* 
s«rer.  10,000.000  to  I  agninul  iU  I^Tow.  witat  is  the  ohauoe  of 
both  theaeeveolaooniing  together  ?— answer,  more  than  20,000.* 
000,000  to  one  agaiitat  it  It 'it  oooaequently  of  the  aamt 
degree  of  probability  that  there  h^a  been  aomething  at  work 
Wbich  ia  not  chance  in  Ihe  foi^iatton  of  the  solai'  system."* 
That  such  results  oau  have  been  brought  about  by  chance  ia 
Iteyond  belief. 

Tis  true  Atheists  deny  that  they  believe  in  chansa,  seeinfi; 
that  they  maintain  all  is  regulale<l  by  law.  Hut  a  mament'a 
reflection  will  show  you  that  still  it  must  be  by  ch«nce  or  ac- 
cident that  things  have  fallen  into  some  particular  shape  in  pre- 
ference to  any  other  if  there  be  no  directing  mind  behind 
Whatsis  law  i  To  speak  of  it  as  a  cause  ia  to  ooropletely 
misunderstand  the  meaning  of  the  word.  The  Atheist  talks  of 
laws  of  nature  as  though  they  were  entities  that  could  tct  upon 
and  govern  matter,  whereas  they  are  simply  the  modes  in  whioh 
the  phenomena  occur,  having  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the 
cause  that  liea  behind.  An  able  modem  writer  has  put  this  ad- 
mirabiy :  "  There  is  a  class  of  philoaophere  who  think  that 
when  tbey  say  a  thing  takes  place  '  according  to  Inw  '  they  have 

*  Essay  on  Probability.  «< 


IbJWui.      ,)  '  K  > 


•i|»i«iiMa  itM  irtuik  oMHtof.  Wow. '  MoordifHr  to  Uw  •  m#«n« 
oaljr  lb«  dtiall*  Aod  anv*rjriiig  artkr  in  which  pUnotiMiiA 
omm,  TIm  bwt  of  iMittr*  »»•  not  tiM  powtn  ol  tMiortk  Noih- 
Ittf  !■  Me(NQpii«h«d  by  t»Mfn »  Umj  OMralj  itidimu  Um  NuaU^ 
•d  w»y  i«  «rbi«ii  tMiurt  worka  Uw  t«llt  «•  nothing  o|  titlMr 
(»«M'~«MMf>i  M  itnm«(li«u  •nUKwt«nt--or  dirwiion.  or  par- 
pott."*  After  all,  ihorefort.  if  n«  direrting  mind  Asiata,  bj 
wboM  volition  ait  thing*  am  gov«m«d.  it  ia  by  chanc*.  and 
chmam  alon*— h«w«Yer  much  you  may  attampi  lo  explain  away 
the  agly  meaning  <»f  the  won!— that  thinga  are  aa  they  are.  that 
aana  haw  baen  fonneci  -nd  worlda  peopled  with  living  or«atur«% 
the  perfection  of  whoae  organisation  far  exceedaour  moat  |lniah- 
«d  mechanical  productions  The  Atheiatic  theory  reminda  one  ot 
the  parody  on  Lucretina.  by  Jamea  and  Horace  Smith,  in  reftr- 
tooe  tO'  Drury  Lane  Theair* : 

"  I  •Ing  how  casual  brkk«  In  airy  rllmb 
Encountnrd  casual  horsrhair,  rasual  lime  i 
How  rafter*,  borne  through  wandering  clouds  elate.  ^ 

KlM'd  In  their  slope  blue  elemental  vikte  i 
Clasp'd  solid  beams  in  chance  directed  fury. 
And  gave  to  birth  our  renovated  Drury."*     " 

Now,  It  is  nut  a  whit  more  abiiuitl  to  HUp|)oa(f  that  the 
laiilding  in  which  we  are  now  awM)iuble<l  nroae  by  ttonie  upecial 
attraction  in  the  niat«riaU  of  which  it  is  comi)o«e<i  than  to  Im- 
agine tliat  worUls  could  have  been  formed  and  peopled  with  in- 
liabitantH  without  a  designing  mind. 

•*  Has  nutter  mnret^than  motion  ?    Has  it  thought, 
Judgment,  and  genius?    Is  it  deeply  learned 
In  mathematics?    Has  it  made  such  Laws, 
Which  but  to  guess,  a  Newton  made  immortal  ? 
If  so,  how  each  sage  atom  laughs  at  me         *• 
Who  thinks  a  clod  inferior  to  a  man  I 
If  art  to  form  ;  and  counsel  to  conduct  j 
And  that  with  greater  far  than  human  skill. 
Resides  not  in  each  block  ;  a  Godhead  reigns. 
Grant  then.  Invisible,  Eternal.  Mind  ( 
That  granted,  All  is  solv'4."t 

Vide  Appendix  D.  * 


•  Rejected  Addresses. 
fDr.  Edward  Young. 


\ 


fii- 


"t- 


>A 


'     !<V       r 


*- 


J:,'   #' 


:    M 
*       VIII.    Human  Instincts  Point  to  God  and  Cannot  bi 
Satisfiid  Wi*H0t7T  Him.  ^      '        V .       .      ./    .    ! 

*       it  ia  one  of  the  favorite  postulates  of  Atheism  that  we  catt  , 
iorrnno  idea  of  God.   4  ^his,  however,  is  very  far  from  being 
correct,  and  shows  that  Atheists  use  the  word  idea  as  loosely  m 
they  do  many  other  words.    By  an  idea  they  mean  that  which 
depicts  in  the  mind  some  exteirual  thing  cognised  by  the  senses. 
But  this  is  far  too  limited  a  view  to  take.    Locke  says :  "  What- 
ever the  mind  perceives  in  itself,  or  is  the  immediate  object  of 
perception,  thought,  or  understandmg,  that  I  call  an  idea."  And- 
Cousin  beautifully  remarks :     "  We  do  not  perceive  God,  but 
we  conceive  Him.  upon  the  faith  of  this  admirable  world  expos- 
ed to  view,  and  upon  the  other  world  more  admirable  still  which 
we  beai  in' ourselves."    We  have  ideas  far  higher  than  those 
aprihging  froln  the  evidence  of  sense.     Indeed,  the  lowest  of  all 
mode%  of  viewing  the  universe  is  that  which  can  discover  no 
reality  higher  than  that  which  the  senses  make  known.     The 
man  who  cannot  rise  above  sense-knowledge  into  more  lofty 
spheres  of  thought  may  be  truly  d/escribed  as  op^powro?  ifrvx**®*' 
a  natural  man,  and  living  far  below  his  high  capabilitiea     As 
Wordsworth  says ;  .; 

"  Whose  mind  is  but  Uie  mind  of  his  own  eyes 
•     He  is  a  slave,  the  meanest  we  can  meet."  *_ 

And  it  will  be  remembered  that  when  this  same  poet 
would  describe  a  man  in  whose  breast  no  generous  feelings 
glowed,  and  no  lofty  aspirations  impelled  to  noble  thoughts,  he 

said  of  him-^ 

"  A  primrose  by  the  river's  brim 
A  yellow  primrose  was  to  him. 
And  it  was  nothmg  more." 

When  we  speak  of  the  universe  itself,  the  very  term  that  we 
employ  means  much  more  than  the  senses  can  make  known  to 
us.  For  what  does  the  word  mean  ?  The  Atheist  says  that  by 
'  it  he  intends  to  convey  an  idea  of  the  entire  system  of  physical 
nature.    I^ven  that  is  an  idea  which  transcends  sense-knowledge. 


■"W^j., 


-I*?' 


f<jn 


iiaoe  he  hM  never  cognised  the  entire  sjrstem  of  physical  nature, 
and  never  can.  But  the  word  implies  more  than  this.  It  indi- 
cates that  in  this  system  there  is  a  oneness  or  unity,  that  all  its 
parts  are  bent  to  some  grand  end,  and  that  they  form  portions 
of  a  wondrous  whole. 

Psychological  analysis  clearly  proves  that  in  the  phenomena 
of  consciousness  there  are  elements  or  principles  which  in  their 
normal  or  legitimate  development  transcend  the  limits  of  that 
very  consciousness,  and  reach  to  a  kind  of  knowledge  of  Abso- 
lute being.  No  one  can  analyse  his  thoughts  without  seeing  at 
once  that  he  is  in  possession  of  ideas,  notions,  beliefs,  etc.. 
which  have  never  been  derived  from  sensation,  and  which  can- 
not be  extracted  from  sensuous  experience.  These  ideas  are  spac^ 
duration,  cause,  substance,  unity,  infinity.  And  there  is  a  very 
striking  peculiarity  about  these  having  a  most  important  bear- 
ing on  this  question— which  is,  they  are  distinguished  from  all 
the  phenomena  of  sensation,  inasmuch  as  the  former  are  neces- 
sary, universal,  and  absolute,  while  all  the  latter  are  contin- 
gent, limited  and  relative.  Take,  by  way  of  illustration,  the 
idea  of  any  kind  of  object,  say  a  house  on  the  one  hand,  and 
space  on  the  other.  The  former  of  these  is  derived  from  ex- 
perience, and  is  consequently  contingent ;  the  latter  wcs  know 
from  reason  alone,  and  is  necessary.  You  can  easily  conceive  of 
the  house  being  destroyed— being  absent  from  the  place  it  oc- 
cupies, and  from  every  other  place.  And  ^e  rule  that  applies 
to  the  house  will  hold  good  of  all  material  things  Each  one, 
individually,  you  can  with  the  greatest  ease  imagine  not  to  exist. 
Thus  the  ideas  that  we  have  of  material  .things  are  relative  or 
contingent.  But  you  cannot  by  any  effort  of  the  mind  suppose 
space  to  be  destroyed.  It  is  not  in  the  power  of  thought  to  con-- 
ceive  the  non-existence  of  space.  The  idea  of  space  is  con- 
sequently a  necessary  idea.  Take,  again,  the  ideas  that  attach 
themselves  to  event  and  cause.  The  idea  of  an  event  is  a  con- 
tingent idea— it  is  something  which  might  or  might  not  happen. 
Neither  supposition  is  contradictory  or  impossible.  The  idea  of 
cause,  on  the  other  hand,  is  necessary.  An  event  being  given, 
the  necessicy  for  a  cause  to  produce  it  follows  as 'a  matter  of 


■.'-il 


m 


-  \'^x!. 


'-m;?' 


^ 


i 


88 


course.  An  uncaused  event  is  a  contradictibn  in  term&  And 
this  law  must  apply  to  all  times  and  to  all  worlds  where  think- 
ing beings  exist  Thus  it  will  be  seen  we  have  principles  and 
ideas  not  a  few,  which  transcend  sense-knowledge,  and  are  nec- 
essary and  universal 

Now,  amongst  all  peoples  and  in  all  ages  there  is  found 
some  sort  o!  belief  in  God,  and  hence  the  existence  of  some 
kind  of  a  religion.  If  the  argument  «  consensu  gentium  does 
not  prove  tl^e  existence  of  God,  it  certainly  does  prove  that 
ill  all  ages  some  sort  of  evidence  has  led  men  to  believe  in  one. 
*l  Beligion,"  says  Professor  Max  Bfuller,  the  greatest  living 
authority  on  the  question,'^ is  not  a  new  invention.  It  is,  if 
not  as  old  as  the  world,  ao  least  as  old  as  the  world  we  know. 
As  soon  as  we  know  anything  of  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of 
man,  we  find  him  in  possession  of  religion,  or  rather  possessed 
by  religion.  "  TUe  oldest  literary  documents  are  almost  every- 
whej^Tuligioua  '  Our  earth,'  as  Herder  says,  'owes  the  seeds  of 
all  higher  culture  to  religious  tradition,  whether  literary  or  oral. 
Even  if  we  go  beyond  the  age  of  literature,  if  we  explore  the 
deepest  levels  of  human  thought,  we  can  discover  in  the 
crude  ore,  which  was  made  to  supply  the  coins  or  counters  of 
the  human  mind,  the  presence  of  religions  ingredients."*  Now, 
this  fact  has  to  be  accounted  for,  and  no  Atheistic  system  with 
which  I  am  acquainted  has  any  scnrt  of  explanation  that  it  can 
furnish  worth  a  row  of  pins. 

Beligion  is  a  necessity  of  man's  nature,  and  hence  its  uni-. 
versality.  What  we  may  call  fpllpniring' the  German,  "God* 
consciousness  "exists  in  all  probability  more  or  less  in  every 
human  breast  Someti^ies  this  faculty  hJEus  become  dimmed 
by  ignorance,  superstition,  and  sin,  and  occasionally  it  has  been 
left  to  rust'throogh  disuse,  until  it  has  all  but  disappeared ;  yet 
it  is  never  entirely  lost  We  find  some  manifestation  of  it 
amongst  all  peoples  and  in  evei||  age.  The  fact  of  the  uniyera- . 
ality  of  the  belief  in  God  was  noticed  by  the  ancients.  Plutarchf 


% 


II- 


'Cbntemp.  Rev.,  Maj^  1873,  p.  211^ 
tPlut  Aclv.  Cdot  Epicureum,  1124. 


,■*-., 


V"T-ftS' 


■f-'^ 


asserts  positively  that  there  were  no  races  without  such  a  be* 
lief,  and '  Artenudorus  gives  expression  to  the  same  idea, 
the  woi^  ot  the  latter  being  very  explicit,'  Ovhiv 
t&tMK  iaf$pJl(^nii^i^*o¥.*  In  modern  times  some  few  persons 
have  called  in  question  the  truth  of  this  assertion,  but  the  facts 
they  have  relied  upon  in  support  of  their  views  have  very  little 
weight.  It  IS  contended  that  a  few  savi^  tribes  in  Africa,  the 
Esquimaux,  and  the^  aborigines  of  Australia,  have  no  conception 
of  Qod,  and  no  sort  of  religion.  But  if  this  were  really  so,  it 
would  simply  prove  that  the  Atheist's  highest  ideal  pf  man  is' 
a  savage,  since  all  civilized  races  have  the  religious  faculty. 
Suppose  the  case  were  reversed,  and  we  found  savages,  with  a 
religion,  and  alt  civilized  peoples  without  one,  how  the  Atheist 
would  triumphantly  point  to  the  fact  as  a  proof  that  religion 
was  the  offspring  of  ^^norance,  and  always  disappeared  before 
scienoe^  knowledge  and  cultu^.  Such  an  argument,  therefore, 
as  he  can  found  upon  the  absence  of  the  belief  in  Ood  amongst 
savages  is  not  worth  much.  But  the  statement  that  anypeoples 
are  entirely  destitute  of  religious  ideas  is  more  than  question-, 
able.  A  thorough- acquaintance  with  their  language  and  their 
modes  of  thought  would  in  all  probability  disclose  some  vestiges 
of  a  religion  not  entirely  lost,  and, a  rudimentary  faith  which, 
despite  its  inchoate  appearance,  is  yet  capab'e  of  very  high  de- 
velopment Indeed,  there  are  many  indications  amongst  the 
loweist  savag!^  of  a  vagiie  belief  in  the  supernatural,  even  where, 
it'  does  not  manifest  itself  in  any  external  form  of  worship,  nor 
involve  any  definite  conception  of  a  Supreme  Being,  or  of  a  life 
after  death.  Among  these  may  be  named  the  fear  of  the  dead, 
which  is  very  common  amongst  savage&  The  aborigines  ol 
Australia  are,  perhaps,  the  lowest  race  to  be  found  on  the  face 
of  the  earth,  and  they  are  by  no  mjeans  destitute  of  the  religioos 
idea,  T!he  Rev.  .William  Ridley,  who  has  lived  a  great  deal 
among  these  people,  and  has  carefully  studied  their  habits  and 
modes  of  thought,  remarks,  in  a  letter  to  Sir  John  Lubbock  : 
"  The  Kamikroi  and  WiAidhuri  tribes,  who  formerly  occupied  a 


4> 


*  Artemid.,  L  ^ 


J^    ^~J  ^M 


"''i^\*^y^^ 


s^    -^  "i     ''^^^ 


-■-"^*,'-k.   -f^ 


targa  territory  on  the  Darling-  and  tt»  tributaries,  have  a  tradi- 
tional faith  in  '  Baiame/ or  '  BaiAmai,'  literally  'the  maker/ from 
6oia,  to  m(ike  or  build.  They  say  that  Baiame  made  every- 
thing. . . .  The  Rev.  J.  Gunther,  of  Mudgee,  who  was  many  years 
engaged  in  the  instruction  of  the  Wiradhuri  tribes,  has  record- 
ed the  fact  that  these  people  ascribe  to-Baiame  '  three  of'tlfB  at- 
tributes of  the  God  of  the  Bible '—supreme  power,  immortality, 
and  goodne^.  .n  . . .  A  squatter,  M.  de  Becker,  who-lived  many 
years  at  a  remote  station,  where  the  blacks'  were  in  frequent 
communication  with  him,,  told  me  he  had  seefi^many  of  them 
di&  with  a  cheerful  anticipation  of  being  soon  in  a  'belter 
cbantry,'"*  God  has,  in  truth,  so  implanted iihe  idea  of  Him- 
self in  maii's  soul  that  it  cannot  fail  to  be  discovered  there  by  ^ 
all  who  look  within,  iind  no  circumstances  are  likely  ever  thor- 
oughly to  erase  it.  "  He  who  reflects  upon  himself,"  says  Plo- 
tinus,  "  reflects  upon  his  original,  and  finds  the  clearest  impres- 
sion of  some  eternal  nature  and  perfect  being  stamped  upon  his 
own  soul"  Religion  preceded  governments,  and  has  a  deeper 
root  in  society  than  any  social  law.  It  led  the  vanguard  of 
civilization,  and  founded  the  mightiest  empires  that  the  y?orld 
has  seen.   -■■..■,  -  .■;■-■...;■;  ;.'■     ■;>;■.  :  Z'-^''  ■'-..•■   ■':-' 

The  fact  that^man  every  where  has  some  sort  of  idea  of  God 
has  been  considered  a  complete  proof  of  the  existence  of  such  a 
Being  by  many  of  the  greatest  men  that  have  ever  lived— such 
men  as  Aiiselm.  Spinoza,  Descartes,  Leibnitz,  etc     Their  argu-  < 
ment  took  the  foUoWing  form :  "  We  have  the  idea  of  a  perfect 
Being  in  our  minda    But  existence  is  a  part  of  this  idea,  and  a  ' 
necessary  part ;  for  an  imaginary  being  is  less  perfect  than  a^ 
teal  being.    Therefore,  we  are  so  made  b&  necessarily  to  believe 
in' the  existence  of  a  perfect  Being.  Whenever  we  think  of  Grod  \ 
we  are  obliged  to  think  of  Him  as  existing.     And  we  can  have   ; 
no  higher  proof  of  any  reality  than  that  we  ileeessarily  believe 
in  ite  existence^BO.  soon  as  the  idea  of  it  arises -in  our  mind." 
Whether  this  argument  be  cpnclusive  or  not,  that  which  springs 
from  it  #oet  certainly  is—viz.-,  that  religious ,  worship,  in  some 

*,'/*NaturtX.  IK  521. -l- ■■■■■■■'■■■■■ '-'•  '--'w-'^   .     :'■■     .  ■■.•"■'  ..  ', 


fr 


*.» 


T'Si 


,    ^-^^^^rW^^S^?^' "' 


* ' ■  '*">°    \  " ■'  '"^'^    V  '  ''-'"'■  'i-'  F  ,  -i'  Ji' '-'.' 


'  lyPt^  ■ 


.   --^i. 


'^ 


•  4> 


41 

form  or  other,  has  been  engaged  in  ia  every  age  and  in  every 
land.    If  thi^  practice  be  hasied  upon  an  iHusion,  how  can  we 
know  thfct  anything 'is  true  ?     For  what  is  there  that  is  more 
universal  f     If  all  religions  are  false,  tiien  universal  humanity 
is  in  error.      And  that  being  so,  we  can  have  no  possible'  guar- 
antee for  truth  upon  any  subject     Our  most  potent  instinct* 
may  be  delusions,  and  our  most  cherished  ideas  hallucinations. 
But  even  then  we  require  to  be  told  how  this'  tremendous  delu- 
sion called  religion  arose.      What  were  the  causes  that  gave  ft  • 
birth  ?   (What  the  circumstances  that  called  it  into  being  ?  This 
u  whav/be  Atheist  must  explain  if  he  wishes  to  recommend  his 
philosophy.    But -he  has  no  explanation  to  give,  and  none  is  pos- 
'  sible  upon  his  theory.    The  oitly  solution.of  the  problem  will  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  "  God-consciousness  "is  deeply  implanted 
in  the  soul ;  and  the  aspiration  after  the  Infinite,  the  All-Perfect, 
the  Absolute  One,  iis  a  characteristic  of  universal  humanity. 
Professor  Tyndall  has  well  said:  "  No  Atheistical  reasoning- 
can  dislodge  reiigion  from  the.heart  of  man.     Logic  cannot  d^- 
.  pdv^  us  Of  life,  and  religion  is  life  to  the  religious.      As  an  ex- 
'perienoe  of  consciousness,  it  is  perfectly  beygnd  the  .assaults  of 
logic."*    This  JB  so ;  and  hence  Atheism  can  never  take  firm 
hold  of  the  mind  of  man.     l|an  is  a  religious  beinfcand  cin  no 
more  change  his  nature  in  llis  respect  than  his  j^hysioa  form. 
Atheism  is  foreign  to,  human\nature,  and  can  never,  under  any 
cireumstances.  become  general.  The  human  soul  finds  its  resting 
place  only  in,  Ood,  and  nothing  else  can  satisfy  its  deepest  wants. 

It  is  the  feishion  now  for  wits  to  be 
-,  '   Without  a  God, 

,    Except  some  Force  behind  thjp  things  we  see, 
j,    Like,  heat  or  light  or  electricity  : 
^d-oneisod^: 
'■}f    Among  these  Oracles,  who' stilltbelieves 
:       In  any  God  who  tfiinks  or  loves  or  grieves. 

Biit  there's  a  spirit,  deep  in  the  heart's  core,' 
^.  Of  reverence, 

4#      Wfiich, somehow  will  not  bow  down  to  adore    » 
'  The  mightiest  force  in  Nature ;  what  is  mwe, . 

•Preface  to  seventh  edition  of  Belfast  Address.      -^     *\  *        ' 


'^1 


A 


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jae, 


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Ihareatenae 
'  Of  betas  soinetluiig  greater  far  th^  \ 

<  Blind  makers  of  the  world  n^icli  adence  knows. 

'  ■•»  ■  ■..'■■ 

Worship  I  must,  but  may  not  worship  aught 

^.  "    W  * 

.*  •,    And  yoke  to  do  me  service,  havingcaught 

•  The  secret  of  its  power,  witfi  wonder  fraught,  ..^ 

But  without  mind ;  '  \ 

:    Andwiulercomprriiendit,ImQ«tbe-  ^ 

Highw  than  that  idiich  eomprritends  not  me. 

You  do  not  need  to  w(n«hip  ?    May  be  so  j 

I  judge  you  not ; 
Only,  they  say  the  dog  that  does  not  know 
A  master,  Uke  a  savage  wolf,  will  grow, 
^  ';■  -  -  Mating  his  lot,  .      '  '  ^ 

:  And  is  a  sorry  brute,  untilhe  find  "*       "* 
•  A  mightier  wi|l  tban  his,  arid  nobler  mind.  • 

What  is  it  that  AtfaeiBm  has  to  offer  us  in  exchange  for  the 
holy  faith  of  whidi  she  seeks  to  rob  us  ?  Simply  nothing,  and 
worse  than  nothing.  She  points  as,  not  to  the  golden  Client, 
bathed  in  brauty  and  robed  in  morning  light — a  symbol  of 
univeFsal  Love  and  Eternal  Mercy — ^biit  to  a  black  and  dismal 
abyss,  from  which  issue  hollow  moans,  cri^s  of  despair,  and  "  the 
Everlasting  No.'*  She  calls,  upon  us  to  look,  not  up  to  a  sky 
dear  and  tender  as  the  ,eye  of  God,  "  but  vaguely  all  around  ia* 
to  a'  coppen  firmament  pr^^Qt  with^  earUiquake  and  tornado." 
Shel>ids  us ezchangp  oi!ir  faith  in  a. Providence  which  feeds 
the  ravens,  m»rks  the  hiimble  sparrow's  fall,  and  bestows  upon 
lan  infinite  pity  and  a  watchful  care  that  never  sleeps,  for  be- 
ief  in  a  l^te  cmel  as  the  Furies  and -unrelenting  as  Satan.  In 
)Ur  distress  and  x>nr  sotrow,  when  we  struggle  with  fl|iB  and 
pant  after  power  to  conquer  and  sympathy  to  cheer,  she  holds 
up  before  our  teaxtal  eyes,  not  the  cross,  a  source  of  comfort  to 
millions  of  our  race,  but  a  cruel  skeleton, '  called     Katural 

.  La^,  w^th  hollow  ey^-sdckets,  rattling  teeth,  land  mouldy  bones. 

JListen  to  what  Stoauss  has.  to  say  of  the  A^ism  in  which  the 
unbelief  of  his  early  years  culminated  in  old  afj^e :  "  The  loss  of 


fRev.  Walter  C  Smith.  D.  D. 

♦             — 

• 

J 

'     ~ 

•* 

* 

i   . 

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i 

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«■.  . 

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/  ;■.  ■     -1 

48  ■'"*,' 

.  the  belief  in  Providence  belongs,  indeed,  to  the  moet  seiigible  dA- 
privations  which  are  connected  with  a  renunciation  of  Christian* 
ifcj.  ^  In  the  enon^us  machine  of  Uie  universe,  amid  the  inces- 
sant Vhirl  and  hisii  of  its  jagpl  iron  wheels,  amid  the  deafening 
«rMh  of  its  ponderous  staiS]^  and  hammers,  in  the  midst  of 
this  whole  terrific  commotion,  ^n— a  helpless  and  defence!^ 
creature^finds  himself  pLiced,  not  secure  for  a  mament  thai 
on  ^me  imprudent  motion  a  whe^l  may  not  seize  him  and  rend 
|um,  a  hammer  crush  him  to  powder.      This  sense  of  abandon^ 
^  ment  is  at  first  something  awful  "•   This  is  Atheism  as  descriW 
ed.by  an  Atheist.    And  d  gloomy  creed  it  is— enough  to  blaift 
all  hope  and  cause  deep  despaif  io^siBttle  on  universal  humanity. 
For  this  wretched,  miserable,  mockery  of  life,  shall  we  exchange 
the  sweet  joy  and  happiness  of  religion,  that  can  cheer  amia, 
direst  distress,  and  ^sole  Under  heaviest  afflictions  ?    That 
would,  indeed,  be  a  madman's  act     Spoke  not  DaVid  truly 
when  he  described  the  man  who  denies  God  as  foolish  ?    The 
Atheist  can  see  nothing  in  the,uni verse  but  huge  wheels,  ponder- 
ous hammers,  apd  heavy  beams  ol^iron,  governed  by  an  irresistibly 
destiny,  which  at  any  moment  may  grind  him  to  powder,  and  can 
in  no  case  attom  him  either  help  or  sympaihy.    To  the  Chris- 
tian, (|I1  external  things  are  seen  to  be  full"  of  beauty  and  redolent . 
of  life    The  carolling  of  the  birds,  the  whisperings  of  the  trees, 
,and  the  balmy  breezes,  all  tell  of  a  wondrous  Love  by  which 
earthly  things^were, created  and  are  upheld.     Every  opening 
bud>  evefy' blooming  flower,  the  busy  insect  on  the  wing,  and 
,  the  mellowed  golden  t)eauty  of  the  landscape  nnd^r  thotrays  of 
the  setting  sun,  all  point  U»  the  Everlasting  Father  and  the  bet- 
ter country.    The  blue  mountains,  with  their  crests  of  ^now 
and  the  calm  azure  of  heaven's'  arch  overhead,  proclaim  that 
man-is  loved  by  God  Endeared  for  by  the  In^nite  One.    The 
following  fable  from  Thomas  Carlyle  aptly  describe  the  Athe- 
ist's Dofiition*:^  "'ilentlemen,*  said  a  conjuror  "one  fine  starry 
evening,  'those  heavens  are  a  deeeptio  viaua:  what  you  call 
stars  are  nothing  but  Jery  motes  in  the  air.    Wait  a  littlp.    1 
will  clear  them  off,  and  show  you  how  the  matter  is!'    Where- 
*  "rtie  Old  FaiUj  and  the  New. 


.     ii 


*  '■Wi 


^  ' 


'-"W 


_fwVjj->^j. 


upon  the' artist  produced  &  lofig  syringe' of  great  force,  and, 
stooping  ovet  a  neighboring  puddle,  filled  it  with  mud  and  dirty 
water,  which  he  then  squirted  with  might  and  main  against  the 
xeniih.  The  wiser  of  the  company  unfuried  their  umbrellas ; 
but  most  part,  looking  up  in  triumph,  cried :  '  Down  with  deltf- 
sion  1  It  is  an  age  of  science !  Have  we  not  tallow  lights  then  ? ' 
Here  the  mud  and  dirty  water  fell  and  bespattered  and  besplat- 
t^red  these  simple  persons,  and  even  put  out  the  eyes  of  several, 
so  that  they  never  saw  the  stars  any  more.  Enlightened  Utili- 
tarian !  Art  thou  aware  that  this  patent  logic-mill  of  thine, 
Which  grindeth  with  such n«- clatter,  is  but  a  mill?"  This 
fnechanical  view  of  things  can  neither  satisfy  the  demands  of 
the  intellect  nor  meet  the  wants  of  the  heart.  Man's  earliest 
guide  and  first  leaders  looked  to  the  heavens  for  support,  and 
tequired  fresh  strength  for  their  purpose  by  so  doing.  The' 
simple  breathings  of  infancy  point  to  fears  of  thiat  which  lies 
tl^yond  material  things,  and  the  stoutest-hearted  man— what- 
ever hb  boasting)^  to  the  contrary— is  in  continual  awe  of  the 
supernatural.  The  fears  and  hopes  and  desires  of  humanity  all 
point  to  a  spiritual  source,  whilst  the  deepest  yearnings  of  the 
iianian  heart  tell  of  wants  that  can  never  be  satisfied  without 
trusttin^od.         • 

Thei«  is  a  grand  poem,  translated  from  the  Russian  hj  the 
late  Sir  John  Bowring.  which,  despite  its  length,  is  so  good  and 

so  appropriate  as  to  be  worth  reproducing  here: 

.'     ,  '  it       •  -  ■".'.■■.'_ 

Oh,  Thou  Eternal  One  t  whose  presence  bright 
All  space  dodi  occupy,  all  motimi  guide.  ' 
IJnchai^ied.  through  Time's  all-devastating  flight ; 

^^'       .  1^ 

Being  above  all  beingi  I  mighty  One  I 

Whom  none  can  comprdiend.  and  none  explore  I 

*  Who  fill'st  existence  with  Thyself  atone  ; 

^  Embracing  all,  supporting,  ruling  o'er ; 

Bong  whom  we  call  God,  and  know  no  more. 

In  its  subtime  reseaich.  Philosophy 
May  measure  out  the  ocean  deep,  may  cc^mTN,       : 
The  sands,  or  die  sun's  rays ;  but  God !  for  Thee 
There  is  no  weight  nor  measure ;  none  can  mount 
M  pto  Thy  mysteries ;  Reason's  bri^test  qnrk. 


:  ■'.s  ■'' 

• 

# 

* 

... 

**■  , 

. 

¥■■ 

' 

if. 

1 

i  [ 

.   ■"   ■  ■    ■'     ■■,_     ■  V 

.''■'.'  ."■■••■ 

■..-...i.-s.,  ;'    _ 

* 

I^V 

t 

:      ( 

\ 

A 

Eb^< 

4 

0- 

• 

,¥J3 

f. 


^' 


:;W^ 


45 

T^  from  primeval  nothing™^  id.t  c  J. 
5j«^^then  existence  ;U«I.bn  ' 

Eternity  had  Its  foundation;  air  - 

Sprung  forth  from  Thee.-of  n»h»  «.„  k 

TJy  word  created  all.  awidcStc^te;  ^ 

So  'P^"*'**^""'  «»» »P^*  witi,  rays  d  vine  ,  '    * 
Thou  art,  and  wert,  and  shall  he  »    ril^ 
Ught-^ving  „fe.sustainit^o^^^^^^^ 

1;°"**  ^"'"K  with  the  end  hast  bourS^ 
And  beautrfully  miggled  lifeand  deathT    *       ^ 

A«^asthes,SS^:S;^ 

Shine  round  the  sUver  snow,  the  paieantrv 

A  mfllion  torches.  lighted  by  Thy  hand. 
Wander  unwearied  through  the  bluHL,  • ' 

A»i~r^  "*""'    Wes  of  crystal  light 

A  glonous  company  of  golden  stream^      *^'' 
Lamps  of  celestial  ether  burning  bright. 

B«  Thou  to  these  art  a,  the  nooato  night  ;- 
Y«S  as  a  drop  of  water  in  the  sea. 
AM  this  magnificence  in  Thee  is  lost 

In  all  the  glory  of  suWimest  thought. 

hbut  an  atom  in  the  balance  weighed 
Agamst  Thy  greatness  ,  is  a  cypher  bitmght 


^ 


V, 


r 


■•The  force  of  this  simile  can  h««ii.  u    • 
never  witnessed  tW  stm  Aiff  ^„^Jfe  W*^  »*y  ^^  whohave 


wiuKsaca  me  sun  shining  witK  ;;«*il  jr5*  "v*  "/  moac 

'^^i-dng  light  jsrSute^^ 


tion 


"Vs^^^^ 


^.«4^lMilittaiMt4fi*«<<w««%  > . 


■fc 


\ 


Against  Infinity.    What  am  I.  then  ?    Nought 
Nought  but  the  influence  of  Thy  light  divine. 
Pervading  worlds,  hath  reached  my  boaom  too. 
Yei,  in  my  spirit  dodi  Thy  spirit  shine. 
As  shines  the  sunbeam  in  a  drop  of  dew. 
Nought !    But  I  Uve,  and  on  Hope's  pimons  fly 
Eager  towards  Thy  presence  j  for  in  Thee 
I  live,  and  breathe,  and  dwell,  asphing  high, 
Even  to  the  throne  of  Thy  divinity. 
I  am,  O  Cod ;  and  surely  Thou  must  be  ! 
Thou  art ;  directing,  guiding  all  Thou  art  i 
Direct  my  understanding,  then,  to  Thee  ; 
Control  my  spirit,  guide  my  wandering  heart ; 
Though  but  an  atom  'midst  immensity. 
Still  I  am  something  fashioned  by  Thy  hand  ; 
I  hold  a  middle  sank  'twixt  heaven  and  earth. 
On  the  last  verge  of  mortal  being  stand,      ^^ 
Qose  to  the  realm  where  angels  have  their  birdi. 
Just  on  the  borders  of  the  spirit  land. 
The  chain  of  being  i;i  complete  in  me  j 
In  me  is  matter's  last  gradation  lost, 
And  the  next  step  b  Spirit,  Deity  t  ^  i 

I  can  command  the  lightning,  and  am  dust ;         , 
A  monarch,  and  a  slave ;  a  worm,  a  god  ! 
Whence  came  I  here,  and  how  ?  so  marveUousIy 
Constructed  and  conceived  ?    This  clod 
,  Lives  surely  throi«h  some  higher  energy. 

For  from  itself  alone  it  cculd  not  be  I         «* 
Creator,— yes.  Thy  wisdom  and  Thy  word 

Created  me  !    Thou  Source  of  life  and  good  I 
khou  spirit  of  ffly  spirit,  and  my  Lord  ! 
^thy  light.  Thy  love,  in  their  bright  plenitude, 

Filled  me  with  an  iftimortal  soul  to  spring 
Over  the  abyss  of  death,  and  bode  it  wear 
The  garment  of  eternal  day,  and  wing 
Its  heavenly  flight  beyond  this  little  siAere, 
Even  to  its  Source,  to  Thee,  its  Author,  there. 
O  thought  ineffable  !  O  vision  blest ! 
Though  worthless  our  conceptions  all  of  Thee, 

Yet  shall  tliy  shadowett  image  fill  our  breast. 
And  waft  its  homage  to  Thy  Diet]f. 
God  I  thtos  alone  my  lowly  thought  can  soar,-^ 
„  Tht»  ieek  Thy  presence.    Being  wise  and  good  ! 
'Midst  Thy  vast  works,  admire,  obey,  adore  ; 
And  when  Ae  tongue  is  doquent  no  more, 
The  ?oul  shall  speak  in  teani  <rf  gratitMde. 


■*y^TS~'"'    "^  <  . 


^     ^'        *      ».  ^1.     =  ,.T3 


V  tLahJU^^  ^-.j^i'  ^  ^ 


TWtWM  t»' 


)»\  ■».  ^^ 


-     X 


47 


V 


Appendices^ 


NOTa  A. 


DENU|  OK   GOD-8  EX18TENCR 

.      J»B.gI«,d,  on  „.  oc«i,i„„.  uwiTL,     "^^  '"""«»*  "»» 
.  "The  genUe^n  lie,  when  he  «™  Z  ?'  '  P'""'"  ■»««»«: 

decided  hi»,«|f  .„  AXiTth^' ,'"  ^""''■^  "'  '■»'»«., 
the  ide.  of  denial  of  Ih^  «>  "«   ♦^"^'"♦'^  "■»"'  «»>vey. 

WeII.Iet„„.e.    Hie  e^H^  ""'?.■»'"■,«»  Athei.Ho  one. 

I^verpool."  w«,te  „  Mlo^™'^^^*""«"'"8  """elf  ••  w.  W., 

•uch  men  do  not  dei.» ^h.  .."^  »™'  ""i"  matter. .  If 
emphalicali,  enough"'on*:S:tbjee!""™~  ;'  """  »'»««  ?« 
the  cli4^-.thU°]S:tT  ll^*^*^'"" '■»  *^ 

"Mtenoe  «i  ah,  X  haa  m»^'    ""^  » ■"""■eh  Qod  in 
("life  of  0„lile,- pT  r  ^^'f;  "•' "y  kiod  of  God."      ■ 
.        ■  m»  Z4>    The  late  Kobert  Cooper  wrote: 


...imM^iMW^^  ■  »«/■' 


'W 


•   ■•■.;    ■  ■     48         .  ■;■■,-■ 

*I  t^m  th«  theory  of  God  becauw  it  is  not  a  fact "  ("  Pop»iUr 
DevelTpment  of  Atheism."  p.  7).  ThU  is  •  curiouriy-woftied 
phrase,  and  shows  what  a  fog  the  man's  mmd  was  in.  U 
literally  means  that  he  rejected  the  theory  beoau«  the  said 
theory  was  not  a  fact,  as  though  some  theonaa  were  facts 
What  he  intends  to  say  is.  I  suppose,  that  the  exUtence  of  God 
is  not  a  lact,  which  is  assuredly  a  denial  of  that  existence. 

One  of  the  ablest  writers  in  the  Secular  lUvuu>—i  paper 
edited  at  the  time  by  Mr.  Charles  Watts-who  has  recently 
beeniu  this  country-conclades  an  article  on  the  existen<Jfe  of 
God  as  follows:       .  /  "■'■.,■■    '* 

•Meanwhile,  let  the  gauntlet  lie  where  1  have  thrown  it 
awaiting  the  acceptance  of  Christian.  Deist,  or  Agnostic.  If 
any  en  prove  that  I  am  wrong  by  appeal  to  such  absolute  facU 
ftsthosefrom  which  I  draw  inv  arguments,  the  admuision  of 
defeat  shall  not  be  vranting  If  not,  let  silence  confess  that  I 
am  right  and  tb^y  wrong  Lastly,  be  >t Jcnown  that  only 
logical  argument  will  be  seriously  dealt  with.  SeiitimenUihs.u 
or^ttempts  to  get  behind  ultimate  fact*,  will  be  ridiculed,  not 
answered,  for  to  such  answer  is  impossible  Facts,  and  deduc- 
tions from  facts,  can  alone  be  taken  as  answers  to  the  state, 
ments  which  I  haye  here  maintained  Tlurt  xs  no  Qod,  ^ 
Sectdar  Review,  January  20, 1888.  p.  37. 

The  italics  are  his  own.  Hei-e  is  a  denial  surely  emphatic 
enough.  And  Mr.  Joseph  Symes,  at  that  time  tf  sort  of 
Lieutenant  of  Mr.  Charley  Bradlaugh,  and  a  prominent  lecturer 
on  Sefcularistic  platforms,  writes : 

"Bah r  There  is  no  God  !  The  Christiana  seem  to  have  set 
up  theirs  to  blaspheme  mmr—Freetkinker,  Oct  1, 1882,  p.  310. 

The  following  is  also  to  the  purpose,  and  it  illustrates  at 
the  ^me  time  Secular  profundity  of  thought :  ^ 

"An  Atheist's  answer  to  'What  waa  the  on^n  of  the^ 
Universe?'  ■  '  ^  *■  --■•-v  .'i:  . 


•God  oqly  knows— and  there  is  no  0<«."—S«nrfar  JUview, 
Febriiary  3, 1883,  p.  73. 

Aoooxdingto  Secularism,  therefore,  thi)  non-existent  has 
knowledge;  in  other  words,  the  non-existent  exists.  Truly. 
ri«ethinker8««aveiy'credalou8  8etof  pw^le,  ^ 


t' 


^ir, 


■      -•'»  T 


•>•    t 


49 

axl    till,  before  •  u,^  ITj       ^  '"  "■•  North  of  F..„i     /  • 

«>  «8^«»ly  iKir„,  ^r«"'r  *"'""    When   ".:„".;; 
know  od«,   a-  rhJo  #  "*   ^*"«t  nidinient*  «#     7        - 

working  „,e„  who  Ii.t„  to  U^th^'""'"  '"'I?' »'io      • 

well  to  give  th«  following  ,„,.u",  7  ''»'  ''"»'.  it  may  b«  .? 
(Profe»«r  of  A,tm„«„y  inj"^  "••P'*^  by  P«.fe,^/chlil?. 
l^niversity  of  a.,„briZ,  ,"    f'«'""««'«i  PhiIo«>ph^  i„   i" 

«'^«  to  be  pl«<»j  „„  „   "^"*?'  »»  the  WwL.    CoT 
w»th  the  Aanrf  ao  as  r^»  k„     "[  pose  tfte  sphere  to  be  ,u,«k  JL 
«^  motion  during  «„„i,!^;^^»^«^^^^ 

P<«n«nt  by  regnhtin^  the  moU^T'^  '  ""°  P-T^^aof  ex- 
by  the  hand.  «  that  it  .hallZt^H "'"'"■«"«'  "^  "»  «Phm 
of  ««h.,  .^       ^^^,^,_  JightT«  ."eS"  '^"^  •"  «>«  "Otion 

0' fcction  being  ^„,^^  "«  «»  of  the  sphere,  the  eflest 

■^V-n -oggeet  that  the':CZ^^~"^J''e  experiment 
#  /^  *"  ^«et  proportion  U, 


■  ~      .'  f  ■, 


.'       V 


'^T^ 


K 


■is 


/ 


/ 


A 


^ 


1' 


■■■:,;■,■■■  ■.■■:•:  W.  :■,,      ..  ■  ■■  ■■     .■    %.  ■■  ■■   ;■ 

<h«  ««  of  the  *h«« ,  b«U^       rt.t«d\ataeq«eBtty.  «*•  on 
th.  •vide""  •' '»^;"^^  twever.  thrt  U.e  motioo  ot  Ih. 

•«**"  '^  ^Ti«r«to  maybe  defined  to  be  the  qnriity 
"•^  ?'T,.'*vI^r«™Unce..n«ce«it.t«ithe.(r.rtem- 
whieb, "»««*•  P^^'^u^*^ He.i«  we  B..y  draw  the  n.te- 
ployed  to  «f 'f^t^^^ay  „/  iruHia  «  .  V^ty  per- 

("Iran.  Vict  InsC  vol xl, p.  202 ) 

••  'NOTB  O.      ■. 

WILL  THE  ONLY  SOURCE  OF   FORCE. 

«      T  i>  Bi*.Vmiin  F.  R.  S.,  in  his  admirable  work 
^UtS'^.^ii^y^wSA-n.ptU.n."  h.3^^^^^  tbe^ 

'""TCXu^  wbicb  is  di«ct.y,«iv.n.>nd  immed^^- 
A.    Ihe  «>»'7  ";"~       wiU  force,  and  all  my  knowledge  of 

infer^ce._  _^^^  j^  „y  ^nly  foroe-finder-that  is.  the  only 
poweftha^carfinTwithdUnstrati^^^  thati  can  show 

y**"  ^  ^i!J^  twdn  o!  reasoned  thought  a})out  anjr  force  or 
C.  1"*)®^  «****"'.__.„«,  the  fundamental  proposi- 
fowe.  '««jd»««»»?"*^'^*ySrflow,  «.d'«n7he 
tion  out  of  whKh  f '  "J  •n.S^&d.,  is  this:  In  flnd- 
?^"*^ /'^»  SS  aSi  /ta^rtJ?!  will,  -.thtif  aUthe 
ing  force  /  t«tt  «•  »«.  ?~*  rf^,  down  wilhoat  omiamon  in 

■*•?*  •L"*.?^^to.lm«  Jumd  written  .t  the  he«l  ot 
cmdhMwihatlw^ 

■  NOTa-0* 

ITOMS  ANJ)  CHANCE 

I  ling  of  Atooui;  who«  creative  brain     . 
With  eddying  impubc  buUt  new  Dniry  Mne ; 

Not  to  the  labooTf  of  wbservient  man, 
To  no  young  Wyatt  appertains  the  plan ;  J, 


'  - '- •  V/?*«.;Jh. :  .><J!A.,^^„, , 


-S*^T 


Atom*  „,^"^^i,'^  ",■>>•««•  ,*,r '"'"  • 


I,     *■ 


i  \ 


i^" 


(3 


^. 


Each  wild  with  hope.  »»*  "«»*»*rL^nttii       ' 
Points  the  pleased  ear  and  wags  th'  expectant  tail. 

Ye  fallen  Wcka.  in  Dniry's  ^^"^  )w.^  ^ 

Since  doomed  to  slumber  "°««=»»«J  "P^*^ 
Sweet  was  the  hour  when,  tempted  by  ytn^fa*a^ 

Congenial  trowels  smoothed  your  yellow  cheeks, 
Float  dulcet  serenades  upon  the  ear, 
Bends  every  atomfeom  its  ruddy  sphere.      , 
Twinkles  each  eye.  and.  peeping  ftom  ite  veil, 
Marks  in  adverse  crowd  its  destined  male. 
The  oWong  beauties  cUp  ftieir  hands  of  gnt. 
And  biick-dust  tilterings  on  the  bieexes  flit ; 
Then  down  they  rush  in  amatory  race, 
Their  dusty  bridegrooms  eager  to  embrace. 
Some  choose  old  lovers,  some  decide  for  new  j 
But  each,  when  fixed,  is  to  her  station  time. 
Thus  various  bricks  are  made  as  taste  invite. 
The  red,  the  grey,  the  dingy,  or  the  white. 

Perhaps  some  half-baked  rover  frank  and  free 

To  alien  beauty  bends  the  lawless  knee  ; 

But.  of  unhallowed  fascinations^ick. 

Soon  quits  his  Cyprian  for  his  married  bnck. 

The  Dido  atom  calls  and  scolds  in  vain.  ^, 

No  crisp  i&»eas  soothes  the  widow's  pain. 

So  in  Chcapside.  what  time  Aurora  peeps, 

A  mingled  noise  of  dustinan,  milk,  and  sweeps 

Falls  on  the  housemaid's  ear.    Amaied.  she  stands. 
Then  opes  the  door  with  cinder  sabled>hands. 
And  "  matches  "  caUs.    The  dustman  bubbled  flat. 
Think^  tis  for  him,  and  doffs  his  fontailed  hat ; 
The  milkmsui.  whom  her  second  cries  assail. 
With  sudden  sink  unyokes  the  clinking  paU.         \ 
Kow  louder  grown,  by  tiims  she  screams  and  weeps. 
Alas !  her  screaming  only  brings  the  sweeps. 
Sweeps  but  put  out,  she  wants  to  raise,  a  flame, 
All  caUs  for  matches,  but  'tis  still  the  same. 
Atoms  and  housepiaids,  mark  tfie  moral  true— 
If  once  you'gaa^rtray,  no  MATCH  for  you. 

As  atoms  in  ont  mass  united  mix. 

So  bricks  attiraction  feel  for  kindred  bricks; 

,   Some  in  the  cellar  vein,  perchance^on  Wgh, 
-     Fair  chtn^ey  chums  on  beds  of  mortar  lie: 


«, 


,£■'»'. 


'A"  »        i' 


58 


Enamoured  of  the  sytnpatfietic  clod,  '  -  • 

Leapi  the  red  bridegroom  to  the  Ubourer's  hod. 

And  up  ^  ladder  hearr  the'- workman  taught 

To  thhik  he  bean  the  bricks— mistaken  thought  t 

A  proof  behold— If  near  the  top  they  iind 

The  nymphs  or  broken-cornered  or  unkind,        .    ' 

Back  to  the  bottom,  leaping  with  a  bound; 

They  bear  their  bleeding  carriers  to  the  ground. 

So  legends  tell,  along  the  l(rfty  hill     ,:  .. 

Paced  die  twin  heroes,  gidlant  Jack/and  Jill ; 

On  t^dged  the  Gemini  to  reaefa-l)K  rail 

^Ids  the  well's  top  from  the  expectant  pail, 
1 !  Jack  falls ;  and  rolling  in  the  rear, 
^attraction  of  his  kindred  sphere ; 
heels  begins  his  toppling  tnu:k. 
Throws  sympathetic  somersets  with  Jack, 
And  at  the  mountain's  base  bobs  plump  against  him,  whacK  t 

Ye  living  atoms,  who  unconscious  sit. 

Jumbled  by  chance  in  gallery,  box  and  pit, 

For  yOu  no  Peter  opes  the  fabled  door,  ^      ^      ^ 

No  churlish  Charon  plies  the  shadowy  oar. 

Breathe  but  a  space,  and  Boreas'  casual  sweep ' 

Shall  beat  your  scattered  corses  o'er  the  deep 

To  gorge  die  greedy  elements  and  mix 

With  water,  marl  and  clay,  and  stones  and  sticks ; 

Wh||j|charged  with  fancied  souls,  sticks,  stones,  and  clay 

Sbiuiiiike  your  seats,  and  hiss  or  clap  the  play. 

Oh  happy  age !  when  convert  Christians  read 
No  sacred  writings  but  the  Pagan  creed ; 
O  happy  age !  when,  spuming  Newton's  dreams, . 
Our  poet's  sons  recite  Lucretian  themes. 
Abjure  Ac  idle  systems  of  their  youth, 
.  And  turn  again  to  atoms  and  to  truth. 
O  happier  still  when  England's  dauntless  (|^mes, 
Aw'd  by  no  chaste  alarms,  no  latent  shames, 
Tht  bard's  fourth  book  unblushingly  peruse. 
And  learn  therampant  lesson xrf  the  stews ! 


,J 


♦ 


^HtfSsi 


,Vi?5 


'ii-X 


"  'ix' 


f. 


^I- 


:^  aX)TH,  LETTERBP.    t^WCE  •i.oa 

i    '  t     .^  -  ^^^;-«.'"  «'Tli«isdc  ProMertw," 


( 


y. 


^^   and  in  Um 


.^s^JtAf^^fe^^"^- 


aa  ywwm  sr"  — 
th««ptendidtMU< 
."-BSiiottieGa: 

BYTHESAMrAUTHOR.    PWGP.5CENTS. 

Tb*  Doctriots  Of  linwortallty  W  Taustlrt 
to  tb*  OW  Teftainwt.    - 

11/     ••'>  ^     ^  .»v-xL^oe  of  a  Future  State  bunmw 


^|g«tt,fUld 

,  future  State. 
~'  find  tome 


'      TORONTO: 
.  W.  Briggs.  Methodist  Book  Room,  Richmond  stitct 


s 


-I- 

4 


f'' 


*> 


■^ 


-    BOUNO  .,  c«,tH.  car  ^TTEKKO.    PR^^  ..-c,^. 

Indirect  eoid^ces  of  fl?e  TpeKsonal 
: ;   --  DiOinifi^  of  ^f^risf.     ; . 


BV  TUB 


Rfv.  FREiiERiGK  Rowland  young,  d.  a. ' 

REV.  GEO.  SEXTON.  kA.;"i,r.i>;  ■.*      •  : 


m  FAPE*  COVERS     «fi,ci  «  GENli-:       '    ,      " 


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